


Xena: The Tour

by bearblue



Category: Xena: Warrior Princess
Genre: F/F, F/M, Gen, M/M, Multi, Old Fic!, Other, Unfinished, Xenafic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-28
Updated: 2019-12-04
Packaged: 2020-02-09 08:41:42
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 62
Words: 65,139
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18634696
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bearblue/pseuds/bearblue
Summary: Xena is on the hunt for Gabrielle in the Underworld. OLD fic. Unfinished Fic. But I'm sharing it anyway. ;) Expect posting delays because it's got 50+ chapters.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Normally I'd post my usual disclaimers, but I've left the preface as is. It works fair enough I think. Still, this work is based on Xena: Warrior Princess, which I do not own and it is unlikely to be mistaken for real X:WP. Also free. It remains absolutely free.

# Preface

Dear Readers,

You are about to embark on a journey. Currently, the story is incomplete. There are a variety of reasons for this - including that horrible ending episode and the cessation of the show, the remarkable coincidental timing of a few particular episodes that had me gnashing my teeth in frustration for a while, some 5 years worth of writers' block, some difficulty with the challenges these beloved characters faced, and a need to set this piece away for a while.

My ideas about writing (as practice and method) and the direction and pace of the story have changed quite a bit since the original starting point. Things will change - sometimes somewhat radically. But first I will start with the cosmetic by fixing some HTML issues to make the text easier to read.

Now, what you need to be aware of is that _this_ story contains mature themes. There is sexuality, mystery, danger, adventure, cuss words, and some genuine crassness. Familiar characters may act in ways that seem (at first) out of character. Unfamiliar characters may have their own surprises. This will be the only warning you will have. If human and other sexuality offends you, even if written in the mildest terms, this is probably not the story for you. On the other hand, very few of the incidents are frivolous and they point to resolutions of personal issues, character development, and even sometimes greater mysteries. You can, also, if you're feeling so inclined, just skip those paragraphs and chapters.

Tartarus is both beautiful and dangerous. It has its points of serenity and it's points of the adventure. As I believe, does Elysia. I expect to revisit the actual content, context, and plot of the story soon. I have, however, much in the way of planning and outlining to do. Once I start, I wish to actually finish - this time.

While I'm thinking of just hauling out and starting completely over, the story is currently a bit of alternative fiction based on certain characters from the Xenaverse. It is not meant to infringe on anyone else's rights, but rather to entertain, amuse and provide moments of speculation. If you dislike the premise, have personal issues with the characters or disapprove with urges towards censorship, please go read something else.

Most importantly:

## Remember, this is all meant in fun!

* * *

# The Tour: Chapter 1

Timing is everything. Or so the God of War had learned over his many millennia of existing. In this case, his timing was perfect.

The brilliant smile formed upon his face made up for all the years of frowning and personal sorrow he'd experienced since the loss of his Warrior Princess. Things were so perfect it made his goatee stiffen in bliss.

 _Yes!_  he exulted to himself.

Now Gabrielle, the meddling blonde rival for Xena's affection, was out of the way. For good. That is if there was no unexpected divine intervention, which wouldn't happen if  _he_  had anything to say about it.

Why He hadn't had to do a thing, just nod at the important bits, shake his head judgementally. Prod a little. And, of course, use a bit of a very, very tiny bit (wouldn't do for Hades to find out) of Godly pressure, to Gabrielle's guilty conscience. Zeus' Nuts! It had been so Easy! And she had been done in by her own words and choices.

All he had to do was bring up a messy little incident in Brittainia, add the one in Crete, the one in Amazonia and a few of those she didn't know about and she was took off on the rest. Fortunately for him, that stick of hers was harder than it looked and modest injuries could be tricky things. Especially if they were helped along. And there she was, at the judgment throne, willing to take any punishment for the guilt and shame of it all. Others, in their right mind, would have called it self defense. Gabrielle, however, being who she was, when facing Hades, called it murder.

Out of her own mouth! Gods! He loved this! Xena hadn't been able to convince Gabrielle of her ultimate innocence, not deep down anyway. Stupid woman. And now. . .

If he'd have known how easy Gabrielle was going to be, he would have had one of his henchmen cut her thread early on.

Oh, wait. Xena would have stopped that.

He laughed again. Timing.

Nothing like a little unnatural accident to speed things along. He would have to reward his niece, Discord. She'd done a fine job. Subtle. He licked his lips in anticipation. She was a juicy if kinky number and Gods! How he loved kink.

The God of War grinned evilly as he watched the small woman being led by the toweringly muscular guard. The red-taloned hand pressed bruisingly into fair skin. She looked back only once, hopelessly, looking for some absolution or hope in Hades' stone face. Her gaze switched to the gloating Ares and he wiggled his fingers mockingly at her, as she was led through the portal to Tartarus.

Ares watched until he saw the last of her fine ankle and foot disappear, then laughingly he disappeared. (He didn't want to have Hades jumping down his throat just yet).

Xena was his!!!

 

* * *

It had been as hard as Xena expected. Actually, it had been harder, an overwhelming challenge. Scary in its immensity, but she plodded along, and somehow managed to keep her promise. When her time came, she surrendered gladly.

When Xena died, she died with honor and was cremated by the Amazons and her ashes laid to rest with Lyceus. She was still young, but everyone knew that would happen. It was often a warrior's lot if they didn't have someone to come home to and Xena's someone had been taken years ago. Ephiny had been surprised that the warrior hadn't gone sooner, but she guessed Xena's drive for life had been stronger than her will for death.

Funny how she missed that arrow.

She usually caught those.

 

* * *

The woman strode through the fields, enjoying the tickle of the grass upon her calves. The wind whispered softly in the trees, inviting her to come rest. The scent of sweet flowers filled the air. There was a bubbling stream nearby and a soft conversation being held in the distance. She passed the twined lovers without even glancing over.

Tartarus! Not a thought usually held in Elysia, but the cuss still came to mind. Where *was* she?

Surely the honey-haired woman knew she was coming. Xena had sent her thoughts down, specifically before the end, telling Gabrielle she was on the way to meet her. She'd closed her eyes and smiled, even as the arrow greeted her heart from the back.

Gods, when she'd stood in front of Hades, she'd talked and talked and talked about the changes she'd made in her life. She'd actually begged! And Hades had smiled that gentle smile of his and said, "Be at Peace, Xena. It is enough." It had been a relief to her soul. A burden lifted. And the sight of Elysia through the portal had been bliss. But only because she'd expected . . .

Another heavy load took the old one's place.

Gabrielle. Her lovely Gabrielle. Her friend and companion had not been there to greet her as she promised. Gods, she must be with Perdicus. Yes, that's it. Why hadn't she thought of that? She was with Perdicus, but surely she would have at least come by to say hello?

It caused a wrench in Xena's soul, an aching, to think she might have been rejected, forgotten. Still, she searched on. It could have been the way the air pulsed with sweetness. It almost overcame the senses. The bard might have forgotten because of that. She'd be the type. The warrior, however, was not. Her mind remained vividly clear and her desires more so.

Well, if she had to, she could share. At this point, all she wanted to do was find the woman and pull her in her arms and tell her how much she loved and missed her.

'Gods, Xena thought, One would think I'd be done with tromping around. They'd better be taking care of Argo up there.' Her mind, which should have been at peace, here in the happiness of the fields, continued to grouse as she searched.

 

* * *

It was Marcus who found her first. His dark brown eyes and a bright smile pulled her in. He was so Glad to see her. He held his arms wide and Xena had run to him. It had been a perfect moment.

She fell apart the instant she was in his arms, succumbing as she would never have done as a warlord. It was an unheard of phenomena in the Fields, but Marcus didn't say a word about it. His love for her was greater than that. He held his heart in his arms and let her weep until she could talk about what was bothering her.

At first, he thought of trying to make Xena forget, but the look in her eyes, the way she spoke of her friend, that made him stop. He kissed her tenderly and told the gorgeous woman he would lead her to the places he knew. He would take her to the scrying pools and the villages. Elysia was a big place, made for the eternal rest of everyone, but there were ways of finding people.

Just as he had found her.

That had brought a smile to her lips, and it was worth the sacrifice of his jealousy. They walked hand in hand and caught up on the other details of her life, and if she wasn't blissful, at least she wasn't crying. He forgot he'd ever been worried.

They found Perdicus first. He hadn't seen Gabrielle. He hadn't heard from her since her passing. He had assumed that she'd chosen to wait for Xena and that he would see her when the warrior arrived. It was a shock to him, a very real one and his eyes took on a grey cast, much like Xena's had.

The comely warrior and the gentleman looked at each other and saw the truth.

"You shouldn't have thrown down your sword," she said.

"I know." He said. His heart and hands clenched reflexively.

"You shouldn't have taken her from me," she said. Xena stepped nearer to him and he didn't back away. Her voice was a whisper.

"I know." He said. His own whisper was almost silent. His eyes spoke of the cost of his learning and she forgave him for dying. Perdicus joined the search.

They found comfort in each other. He talked of the Gabrielle he knew. She talked about the woman she knew. Both were made fuller for it. He and Marcus hit it off. The farmer talked to the dark-skinned warrior and they found they had more in common than one would think. If nothing else, they now shared the company of Xena, and she let them, finding her own ease (though not so much in her heart) in their gentleness.

They went to the Amazons next. There was no hand clasping over the heads. This was Elysia after all. There was no war to worry about.

The Amazons, like Perdicus, thought she was waiting for Xena. They had expected them to join them in the fields, even preparing a hut for their bliss. By now Xena had given up tears, had given up the fear of rejection. Now she knew something was very very wrong.

Gabrielle was not in Elysia.


	2. Chapter 2

# The Tour: Chapter 2

by Katrina

 

Going to Hades was harder than one might think. Once in Elysia, most folks stayed. So there really wasn't any coming and going between the judgment zone and the fields themselves.

Then again, Xena was  **determined**.

She knew Gabrielle was dead. She knew that like all the others, she had faced judgment. There could only be three places she could be. Elysius (not here), The judgment zone (not there) and Tartarus.

The God of the Underworld had some explaining to do.

Melosa and her mate, Oriana, joined them. Melosa felt it was her duty. Gabrielle was an Amazon Queen. Her inheritor.

Xena blinked when she saw the Amazons walk out of their hut with swords in their hands. Then she grinned and shook her head. There was nothing like Amazon practicality.

The warrior touched a sword's tip with a respectful finger. "Didn't think you needed something like this in Elysia." Her expression was thoughtful.

Melosa laughed. "Xena, Amazons have always been warriors." She twirled the sword in her hand. "Besides, you never know when they might come in handy." Oriana smiled tightly and pulled her wolf mask over her golden hair. If they could have, the whole of the Amazon nation would have joined them. There was always something lacking in the fields, something that kept the majority from feeling truly happy. Though they all had found some comfort and peace here.

They missed Adventure and Eternity seemed very long without it indeed.

The guards of the judgment zone weren't prepared for the fight. Swords that should never have existed sliced a wide path for Xena and her compatriots. No one had thought to make shields for the guards, not for people returning from Elysia. It took weeks (but who kept track of time?) for some of those guards to find all the pieces to themselves again.

Xena heard a familiar voice make its way just outside the wide double doors before she broke them down. "See that's what I mean. I can help you with that. If you. . ." The doors clanged open with the fierce kick. The man, with a greyed beard and a gleam in his eye, turned to face the noise. "XENA!" He exclaimed.

Xena sneered a hello and stalked up to the throne, "Hello Sal. How ya doing?" She didn't take her eyes off of Hades. The God sunk low into his chair.

The salesman shrugged. "Well you know," he said as he watched the ex-warlord make a beeline towards the God (I didn't know they had swords here. Wonder if there's profit in it.), "I'm dead. Kind of unexpected. Who knew that King Liamus had a thing against Hercules? I'd have probably done better to mention you instead." He smiled nervously as he watched the sword sink low and deep into the God's chest. "Hades and I were just having a nice conversation about how to. . ." His conversation dropped off.

Xena towered over Hades, shoving the sword further in. Her expression was menacing, "Where *is* she?" Her nostrils flared. Her eyes seemed dark with a kind of madness. Hades, though he knew he was a God and couldn't be killed, actually gulped. Gods. She was beautiful. No wonder Ares . . . whoops better not track that way. He had a wife.

He thought about acting innocent and tossed the idea. Better nix this whole thing in the bud. "She's in Tartarus. You can't . . ." Marcus and Perdicus finished off the final guard and stepped in after the two Amazons cut the other one in half.

"TARTARUS!!!" The exclamation came from all of them. He actually felt the sword twist in his insides and paled. Xena's eyes were even more piercing, "What's she doing in Tartarus?!!! She didn't deserve. . ."

Hades spoke quickly. "She put herself there. I just declared the judgment. You put yourself in Elysia. Just like everyone who goes to Elysia make the judgment themselves . . ."

"BULL. . ." Was that bone making that crunching sound?

"TARTARUS!" Salmoneus, somehow made himself heard above Xena's roar. He cleared his throat mightily when he realized that everyone's attention was on him. It was time to go into sales mode, "Funny you should mention Tartarus." He smiled benignly, "Why Hades and I were just talking about that weren't we. About Tartarus." He nodded, trying to give Hades the hint.

The God was quick. He sat up and the sword sliced down through to his abdomen. He actually winced. (Good Gods, this hurt!) "Yes! Yes! We were. We were talking about how to solve some problems I've been having in Elysia." He flung his hand out in the direction of the Amazons.

Melosa bristled and stepped forward. "The Amazons have done nothing to. . ."

Hades tried to stand up, but it was kind of hard to do with the sword sticking out of his stomach. He looked up appealingly. Xena grimaced and dug in deeper.

Okay. No standing. He opted for reassuring the Amazon from a sitting position. "No, not like that. It's just. .there seems to be a feeling of . . .dissatisfaction. People are unhappy there and that's not how it's supposed to be. Boredom has never been a problem in Elysia before!"

Xena inhaled deeply and stared down at the God, "Well you know why I'm unhappy and it has nothing to do with boredom. Tell me how to get Gabrielle back." Stab stab stab.

"There is NO going back on the Judgment!" Hades began. He had to keep his authority somehow. It was hard to do. The sword ripped back up again.

"If you don't help me with this I'm going to take you apart piece by piece," Even though that was impossible, malicious energy pulsed off of her body. Gods! She was scaring him.

Salmoneus stepped up on the dais and very carefully began pushing angry warrior back, "Xena. Xena. Xena. I'm sure we can work something out. Why don't you let me talk to Hades? I'm sure we can come to a mutual agreement here." He looked to the side and spotted Marcus. He whispered loudly, "Someone, Help me here!" Then he smiled at Hades. Didn't hurt to get on a God's good side.

Somehow the urgency of Salmoneus' voice convinced Marcus to trust him. The warrior stepped forward and gentled Xena back. "Let him talk to the God, Xena. Give it a chance." He glared at Hades then turned back to the angry woman, "We'll try it your way if it doesn't work." Hades blanched.

Salmoneus talked faster and harder than he ever had in his life. The idea was simple enough. Tours. If the people of Elysia were bored, maybe they needed to get out more. Not back to the mortal plane, but surely they could go someplace in the underworld that was interesting. And wasn't Tartarus interesting? Hades protested that Tartarus was dangerous, Nine Levels of increasing danger at that, but Salmoneus pointed out that everyone was dead already.

It could be an adventure. Melosa's eyebrows went up. Oriana pulled the mask off of her face. They shared a look of intense interest.

Real Interest. Life, or in their case, UnLife Affirming . . . Interest.

If this worked, the Amazons would be first in line.

Salmoneus continued. They could send people in. If they got stabbed or wounded, they'd go right back to the fields and let the next set of folks in line go. Marcus even looked interested. Perdicus blinked and looked thoughtful. He weighed the sword in his hand.

Xena stepped forward, hearing the possibility for a loophole. "Make that a mortal wound. I mean," she tried to sound reasonable, "what's a nick in the arm gonna do? Make it something a body would die of. They could even go through the effects if it appealed to them." Hades frowned. Xena grinned evilly as she leaned on the sword, "Some folks are into pain. You want them to be . . . Happy, don't you." The God nodded slowly, a little disbelievingly.

Hades saw a problem and spoke up, "I could send them back to earth if I was going to do that."

"Yea, but," Salmoneus started and then he reminded Hades of his other problem. There were a variety of animal-like creatures in Tartarus which were becoming quite numerous. Okay, bursting at the seams numerous. The Locals apparently couldn't keep the numbers down. Well, it was worse than that. The Locals were getting eaten. Hades heard from his sources that the "return" process was hellaciously painful for the souls. Made him wince in sympathy to even think about it.

The "tourist" could hunt them, cut down their numbers. Make it less likely for those things to come back up through the portal. It would give people, like the Amazons, something worthwhile to do and help the Underworld. And look, wasn't it convenient, there were a couple of Amazons and some willing volunteers to test the theory on. "Right?"

Xena grinned. A light seemed to flash in her eyes. She pointed at her friends. "If Tartarus is so dangerous, one life doesn't seem fair. How about five?"

Hades shook his head, "No. That's too many. I'd never get you, I mean them, out of there. Two."

Xena leaned forward, putting on her best bargainer face, "Four."

"Three."

"Deal!" Salmoneus shouted. He looked at Xena, who was glaring and shrugged, "It's fair. It's fair. I should know." He pointed at himself and appealed psychically (though she didn't hear him) to her better interests. 'Please, please, please.'

Xena pursed her lips, inhaled and nodded. "Three." She pointed at her friends and then at herself, "Each."

Hades grinned, despite himself. He hadn't had this much fun in eons. He really did have to get out more. "Done." He said. Then he looked thoughtful. Really thoughtful. He stood up. It was a much easier process without an angry woman poking a sword through his chest. He tapped his chin and snapped his fingers, realizing what was missing.

"A tour guide."

Everyone blinked.

"You need a tour guide. You're going to Tartarus, for Zeus' sake. You need someone who knows the ropes. I've got the perfect, uh," What was the right description, "individual," There. That was safe, "... in mind. It, I mean, she, has been to all nine levels and back." He frowned and then smiled slowly, "Quite an accomplishment that. Even for one of," He looked back at them as if he were really seeing them for the first time, "*her* kind."

He smiled. It wasn't reassuring at all. But Marcus was grinning from ear to ear and Perdicus felt a spark of something he hadn't in a while. Maybe this is what had been missing.

Salmoneus spoke. "You know, if this works, we could probably come up for things that feel dangerous in Elysia." His eyes rolled up as his mouth rattled off, "Mountain climbing. Bridge Jumping. I mean we could ..."

"Salmoneus! Save it!" Xena barked. The salesman came out from his vision and looked thoughtful.

"Supply stores." His mind worked like a merchant's. He looked at Xena, "We'll need supplies."

Hades spoke, "I can take care of that." Salmoneus looked like he was about to speak up and the God smiled with a new understanding, "for now." Maybe there was more to life than bliss or maybe ... everyone had their own version of it. He snapped his fingers and a backpack and weapons filled a space in front of each human being.

Salmoneus started to protest, "Hey wait a minute, I'm just a ..."

"It was your idea. You should test it out." Hades smiled benignly and wrapped a friendly arm around the man, "Besides, think of all the notes you could take; the ideas that could spark." The salesman began to smile. He'd always thought of himself as an idea man. Yes. This could work.

"Uhm, can I take the no pain option?"

Hades grinned. "Sure."


	3. Chapter 3

The portal to Tartarus opened not long after the "volunteers," put their equipment on. Salmoneus shrugged uncomfortably in his leather armor. People actually wore this? Xena seemed to be wearing her usual and ignored the shield. Perdicus put it behind his backpack, just in case. He actually did have a long memory. The Amazons didn't have to worry about changing but wore what they usually did. Marcus grinned at the familiar feel of the leather vest and slapped on the wrist guard with casual happiness.

He knew Xena might not be returning with them. If she found Gabrielle, she was probably going to stay. Knowing her, she'd probably not even go through one token. He intended to enjoy, treasure the experience of having his love near and last as long as his tokens would allow. He wondered if Hades realized that he'd given them four lives instead of three. At least that's how it played out in his head when he'd calculated how many times he'd be brought back.

Oh well, he wasn't going to say anything.

Not that he could talk when he saw what stepped out into Hades' judgment court.

She was tall, taller than Xena. Her breasts were high and uncovered, her belly flat. She wore a skirt, but it only covered her to mid thigh and it didn't hide the spiked tail which waved behind her. Her hair was a dark rich hue that cascaded down her back in fluffy waves. It looked like fire come alive. Her skin was the color of a king's robe. The horns on her head were small, compared to the guards he'd seen when he'd first been thrown in Tartarus. They curled slightly and pointed just above her ears which were rounded like a human's. She wore a knife at her waist. Her eyes were the color of green fire and slit like a cat's. She wore boots that came up past her knees. Her teeth were sharp and bright. She exuded sex.

They always did. The females. He remembered that now and thanked the Gods that Xena was around.

The creature turned and looked back through the portal. Her voice was as slickly sweet as honey and he noticed that it was having an effect on the women of the party as well. Marcus gulped.

This could be a problem.

She called out and slapped her thigh, "Come Tok!" A smile lit her face as *it* bounded out with unrestrained enthusiasm. The creature was catlike, spikier, no fur. It had horns too and giant claws that clicked on the surface of Hades' floor when it walked. It purred against her thigh, it's back curved where the hem of her skirt stopped. She rested a long hand comfortably on its head as she surveyed the individuals gathered in front of her. She sniffed. Once.

Xena was the only one who appeared unaffected by the disdain in her expression.

Then the demon turned to Hades and raised her eyebrows. "You Interrupted my bath for this?" Her voice dripped with reproach. It wasn't exactly a tone one expected to hear towards a God.

Hades breathed in carefully, more affected by her presence than he expected. Gods, she'd changed. She must have gone up a level. He wondered briefly who she'd beaten to get this far and let that go. Tartarus politics was something he liked to stay out of as much as possible.

He looked at the daggite besides her. She'd trained a daggite! No use saying it couldn't happen. Obviously, it had. First the nine hells, then this. He tried to keep in mind that she was on his side, and fought down the niggling sense of panic that started in the back of his mind. "Izzy, I need a favor," he started and as he did, he realized suddenly that he was starting to rack up quite a few debt points with this one. How many times had he called on her since she first adapted to Tarturus' environment in full? Enough that she could start asking favors of him at some point. Gods. He'd better be careful.

There was nothing for it though. She was the only one he could trust with this.

She gazed evenly at him as he outlined the plan, the problems, and the possible solutions. She was actually grinning at him by the time she was done. "You gonna reward the one who makes all the levels? Seems like there ought to be a reward for that." She snickered. If one could get past the madness that is.

Hades shook his head in wonder, "You think they're gonna make it through the nine?"

She looked at the assembled again (who were, by this time, feeling very ignored) assessingly. She grinned evilly. The smile sent shivers up their collective spine. "No." She addressed Hades again, lazily stroking the panting daggite's horns. "No, I don't think so." She looked directly at Xena, "But someone might." She tapped the daggite's head. It looked up and she whispered something too soft to be heard by normal ears. It clicked away from her and started prowl around the gathered individuals, sniffing at them, growling small. (Now most of them were wishing they were being ignored once more. Except for Xena, who simply stood silently as it prowled closer and closer to her. Her hearing happened to be above average. She knew all it was supposed to do was "get to know" them.)

Izzy continued, "In which case, you should give them a prize. Something worth fighting for. Perhaps for a hundred dumbunnies, they get an extra life." She grinned. Prolific bloodsucking bastards, but tasty. She licked her teeth in memory and Hades took a step back.

"Uhm, I'll think about that."

Izzy let go of the toothy smile and narrowed her eyes. "You do that. Think hard about what you're starting here."

Hades cleared his throat, "I have." He looked firm, "and I've decided."

Izzy grimaced at him. "So that's it then? I'm to take them through Tartarus and back if they can make it?"

"Yes." He nodded and ignored the lifting sensation in his groin. Gods, he was going to have to go get a checkup. First Xena, now this. Fortunately, his wife was very good at playing doctor.

She shrugged and for a moment her expression looked mild, "Okay then." She started to step away from the God, then stopped. She looked at him intensely, "Will they be affected by the change?" Hades looked startled, then thoughtful.

He shook his head. He didn't think so. He couldn't have fully developed Tartarans running around with the Elysians. Well, not in Elysia that is. Maybe someplace in the middle. He'd think on that.

She took a breath. "Good."

Then she turned her presence to the waiting humans. She called Tok, who had started gnawing lazily at Salmoneus' backpack. The grey-haired man had stepped behind Marcus to avoid even being near those sharp teeth. Tok slithered up and clicked its way back to the mistress.

Salmoneus wiped the sweat from his brow. Maybe this wasn't such a good idea. He looked at the tokens that were strung around his neck. Gods, he hoped he went quick. Elysius was sounding better and better. Maybe boring was good.

The demon stood up from her crouch and smiled. It would have been sweet, except it really wasn't. "Come on then folks, Let's go to Hell."


	4. Chapter 4

Amazingly, the portal opened up to reveal another portal. There were four guards. Two guards were watching the portal to Hades Judgment court and two watching the portal to Tartarus. Izzy stopped in the middle of the grey stone room and waited for the rest of the adventurers to file in. Tok clicked to the center and sat on its haunches. The participants of the crazy experiment staggered in. There was always a little disorientation at first, but you got used to it. It was a bit like sailing that way.

"How Goes Izzy?" rumbled one of the guards on the Tartarus side. The muscular red giant cracked a wide smile, revealing row upon row of white pointed teeth. He held a wide sword, bigger than a human being, across his broad chest. His broad sandaled feet covered several paces of ground.

Izzy smirked and shook her head, "Hades wants me to play tour guide. These folks get to come back through when they're done." She watched as they gathered in on themselves, with Salmoneus somehow placed in the middle. No one had drawn a sword yet.

That was good. It demonstrated bravery and common sense. They might make it after all.

A rather large jawbone dropped and clattered to the ground. The third guard picked it up with a clawed hand, dusted the bone off and started chewing on the bits with meat again. "Sorry," he muttered apologetically. Then he explained, casually, "They drew and quartered that giant this morning like they always do. Glovyn, was it. Finally got me a share this time." The belch he uttered next was loud and foul. He patted his chest. "Pardon me."

The Elysians looked queasy, especially the ones who had been here before. It was easy to forget this part. One wanted to.

Izzy shook her finger at the demon, "You're gonna feel that on the way out you know." Her expression spoke of caution, moderation. Salmoneus gaped at her, finally cluing into what they were talking about. She ignored the humans or pretended to. It was best they learned this now.

Marcus and Xena looked at each other, both having sudden vivid memories of the "meals" that were offered while they were in residence. At that moment there was a deeply silent, intuitive and powerful communication between them and both looked with relief at each other. Neither had eaten. Both vowed silently. They were checking the packs to see what kinds of rations and how much Hades provided them with as soon as they could.

The guard looked sheepish, "I know, but they taste so good." He wiped a greasy hand against a blood-colored vest. It hid the stain.

Izzy snorted, "Railfish taste as good, there's plenty of it, and it's better for your digestive tract. You're gonna be moaning and groaning with the rest of those who eat souls, all night long." She pointed at the tourists, "These folks are gonna eat better and do better than you will tonight." Marcus and Xena looked at each other. There were alternatives?

The fourth guard, the one guarding the portal to the Judgment seat laughed. The guffaw shook the whole room hard enough that portions of the wall came down and bounced around, some dangerously close to the Elysians. He waved his hand out, and a wind blew through the room, pushing the humans towards the Tartarus portal, "Oh Izzy, Ya Kill me!" Izzy squinted and shook her head.

Oh well. She always tried to convince the humanitarians. It was useless as usual. You had to catch them before they got started or just after they'd finished moaning and groaning. Not that they could all quit cold. The withdrawal was hell.

The other guard who was watching the Judgment portal grimaced down at the humans. Enough chatter. He had a job to do. "Name yourselves." His official sounding voice echoed through a now quiet room.

There was a bit of silence and Izzy said, "Do It! He's gotta know who you are so he can let you back in. That is if you stay in one piece." She grinned evilly and shoved the tall dark woman forward, "Go on." Xena looked back and glared at Izzy, but the Tartarus' native glared in return. Xena had to turn first. She had priorities. Take care of business first, find Gabrielle, vengeance later. The warrior introduced herself, as did her compatriots.

Meanwhile, Tok, who'd been prowling around the spot where the bone had fallen came back, finishing the process of swallowing. Izzy's eyebrows raised! "TOK!" She grimaced at the daggite with a menacing glare. The creature looked back at her with wide innocent eyes and she sighed. "Come 'ere." It padded over to her and she felt along its belly, sighed, then patted it roughly on the head, "We'll see how you are when the dark falls, eh?" It purred against her knees in conciliation, oblivious to the pain it would later experience. Nothing like a Tartarus short memory. The demoness sighed again and shook her head. Izzy looked up to see Melosa watching her, cocked an eyebrow, and gave a snarled grin. The Amazon turned away, but not before giving her an unreadable look.

When everyone was through identifying themselves, they stepped through the final portal.

The entryway wasn't much to look at. They were in a circular room made of humid black stone. There were three doors, two of which were open. There was no door behind them, where the portal had been. A vague light could be seen under the closed door. There was a green-skinned creature sitting on a high stool, in front of a podium. "Names please." He said querulously. He was an aged being and long white hair drifted well past his knees, not that his body was very long to begin with and he had a bald spot on the top.

"They're not to be residents Dawim. They're tourist." Izzy's voice sent strokes of pleasure through the humans. If you closed your eyes, thought Perdicus as he shivered, you forgot she had pointy teeth.

The small humanoid huffed and jumped off the chair, his white hair floating behind him. "Tourists!" He waddled towards them and as he did, pulled an object off of his brow and let it fall upon his nose. He peered through clear crystal at the first individual he encountered. Perdicus very cautiously didn't move as the creature scanned and sniffed at him. A second point for the adventurers. "Be Damned," the green one said.

Izzy grinned, "That you are," she agreed in a friendly tone.

"Hmmph." He squinted up at Izzy and nodded towards the humans. "They gonna be here long?"

"As long as their tokens allow. Hades'll send a memo. They're here to help with the population control."

"Damn well better." The little demon commented. He waved a ratty quill. It had seen better days. "Gotta keep track of them all you know. Now I'll have to start a second book." He sniffed as he waddled back to his stool, "For tourists."

Izzy turned to the humans, "Got anyone you'd be interested in seeing down here? He's the one to ask. He's got all the names and their room numbers listed down." She folded her arms, rested her weight on one foot and waited. Might as well get this over with. No human ever wanted to come to Tartarus unless they were looking for someone. She'd known that as soon as she saw them.

The adventurers looked at each other. It couldn't be that easy, could it? Marcus nodded at Xena and held Salmoneus back. The merchant looked up at the warrior and sighed. He'd check on his contact later.

Xena, with a hopeful expression on her face, strode forward. She looked intensely at Dawim and spoke softly. "We're looking for Gabrielle. Gabrielle of Potedia. She was Queen of the Amazons. Died a couple of years ago from falling off a cliff." She tapped at the book expectantly and looked into the green man's red-slitted eyes.

The little man looked at Izzy, briefly. The demoness gave a short nod. He began searching the aged tome.

That was more for demonstration purposes. He knew where everyone was in his head, didn't even need the book. In fact, the scrawl was illegible, but it made things look efficient. He picked a page at random.

"Let's see. Lots of Gabrielle's here. Potedia did you say?"

Xena nodded and the Amazons made their way to the podium too. Marcus and Perdicus hung back. The podium was getting too crowded. Instead, they tried to stare unobtrusively at Izzy. They weren't that good at the unobtrusive part, but Izzy ignored them. She had better things to do. Tok snuggled up against her and she smiled down at the daggite and lightly played with its horns. The purr was as light as her touch, almost inaudible, but she felt the rumble against her leg. Good Tok. Good Girl.

Melosa looked curiously at the book and tried to decipher the lettering. She got her hand smacked by scaled fingers when she started tracing a line through the garbled lettering. She withdrew her hand, but not her interest. She looked back at Izzy, ignored the tingle in her belly that she seemed to always feel whenever she looked at the demoness, and caught sight of a surprisingly tender expression directed at the daggite. The demoness looked up again, caught her staring, and hardened her face. Melosa put her attention back on the book. She would talk to Oriana later.

The demon continued, his own gnarled hand trailing down the length of the book. "Potedia. .potedia. .ah .. here it is. .lets see. .the Hall of Self Inflicted Evils, room 2,367,924. Take the door to the left. Go down the Hall of Deadly Sins, make another left at the Den of Iniquities, and then take a right. That should get you to the Hall of SIE's."

Funny how fast a backpack can get returned to your shoulders, Salmoneus thought, as he was hustled out the door. He was already making notes. "Maps."


	5. Chapter 5

Izzy didn't bother with the hallways.

Who wanted to travel down miles of hallway, past millions and millions of doors? Her logic was instantly appreciated the adventurers. They took the shortcut, which involved opening the first door to the right and stepping through.

"Lot of doors you have here," quipped Salmoneus as he stepped carefully into the grainy yellow sand, "the carpenters must make a killing." His foot sunk deep, before encountering a harder, more solid surface. Ah, that felt better. Then he realized that the bottom of his shoe felt incredibly warm. His eyes grew wide. Then it felt incredibly hot. He stalled a moment, letting his brain catch up with the sensation, not quite grasping the implications.

Izzy shrugged indifferently, her broad shoulders sweeping up attractively, her arrow-tipped tail weaving hypnotically. Perdicus stopped for a moment to stare, before being prompted by Marcus. "They keep busy." She grinned evilly and pushed the merchant forward, "Better keep moving. Your boots'll melt and the water's a good ways away yet." Tok bounded out front causing the sand to fly out in a fan pattern where it landed.

The others were quickly becoming aware of the heat of the ground too. They began shifting on their feet, moving forward quickly. Salmoneus lifted his head at the sound of the word, "water." Gods, he hoped they didn't have to swim.

Xena, ever practical, stated, as she strode quickly towards the demoness, who looked unaffected by the heat of the desert, "Which way?" She felt the fiery warmth in her boots and figured she'd take advantage of the compulsion to move. She felt an urgency building, an anticipation. She'd be seeing Gabrielle soon. The sooner the better.

Izzy pointed a long red finger towards the horizon, where a faint streak of blue seemed to waver in the line of sight. "Straight ahead, warrior, till you reach the water line. Two miles at least. Wait there for the stragglers." Xena knew she meant Salmoneus, although, with the way she was feeling it could be any of them. "It will be cooler," the red skinned female affirmed. Xena looked determinedly in the direction indicated, shifting on her feet, and she nodded in response. Izzy tapped the canister on Xena's hip and cautioned in a soft voice, "Drink when you're thirsty. Don't stint. It's too hot here to deny your body's needs. You can refill later at the beach. The water is sweet there."

The warrior looked up at demoness in startlement. Why would she care? The note of concern in the creature's voice placed a puzzle piece in Xena's head, but she settled it in the back of her thoughts. Time enough to figure it out later. The warrior nodded assent and the green-fire eyes looked at her approvingly. Xena felt a warmth build on her cheeks that had nothing to do with the heat. The ex-warlord force herself to turn her gaze away.

Then she started jogging away with Melosa and Oriana following right after. They were feeling an urgency to run too, for similar, but not the same reason. Izzy called out, bringing her hand to cup her mouth, "Ignore the guy with the map. You can't help him. He won't take directions!" Xena waved her hand up in acknowledgment and she and the Amazons made tracks.

Izzy and Tok took their time, unaffected by the heat. Tok would bound ahead and then run back to get a pat on the head, smiling its daggite smile. Izzy let her fool around because she knew the spiky creature would be on task when she needed to be.

The boots the horned female wore were tanned from the leathery hide of a striger and were not going burn so Izzy didn't feel any sort of need to put a hurry up in her step. Actually, she was keeping Salmoneus company. Marcus and Perdicus had moved ahead, far ahead, prompted by the burn in their shoes and the need to put some distance between themselves and the sensual creature behind them. They also wanted to see if they could catch up with Xena. She smiled almost mirthfully, fully aware of the effect she was having on the humans.

It wasn't that Salmoneus was unaffected by Izzy's presence. He was very affected. He was also, however, not cut out for marathons. So he just walked fast, high stepping to keep his feet from suffering (though his thighs were feeling the effort). She didn't rush him and kept pace, pausing when he paused to step side to side and rest. Izzy let him talk since that was his nature and he found her much easier to talk to than he expected.

"If any room would have done, Izzy, why'd you choose this one?" He hissed forward. For some reason, despite the fact he knew he was scared spitless of her, the merchant also felt a comfort around the statuesque female. It was a bizarre, confusing sensation.

Izzy grinned. He couldn't see it, so he wasn't frightened by her display of teeth. Her gentle sexy voice rippled through the screamingly hot air. Tok had finally settled into walking at their pace and padded silently to her left (which made Salmoneus feel better). "It was closest, Sal, and this was the shortest stretch of desert." She shrugged and he didn't see that either since he was looking down at his feet. The glare on the sand hurt his eyes. Mental note: something to cover the eyes. Maybe a gauzy kerchief? "The were other places we could have taken shortcuts at, but we'd've had to go down several miles of hallway. More than what we're doing here. I wanted to get you and your friends to Gabrielle's space before night falls."

Sal nodded. She saw him. Her peripheral vision was beyond excellent and her eyes had slit and covered to compensate for the heat and light. "That makes sense, but maybe next time when you're. . ."

His foot caught on the edge of something. He stumbled and fell. His hands extended forward to stop the fall and he realized in a flash how much this was going to hurt. He could already smell the burned flesh of his palms in his mind.

His hands never even touched the surface of the sand, but he felt himself lifted from the back and settled back on his feet. Sort of. He immediately began the shifting hotfoot dance. "Better watch your step." Her tone was friendly, not mocking. He looked down to see what caught his foot and instantly regretted it. The scream came out of his mouth before he could stop it, and he leaped back and somehow fell into her arms.

Izzy held his quivering body and the weighty load of his supplies easily. She raised her eyes to the blue sky above and sighed. "Humans."

She waited until his grip on her shoulders loosened and awareness came back to his eyes. He looked up at her, suddenly cognizant that he was pressed against her uncovered chest, feeling the warmth of her left breast against his arm. He blushed and felt an immediate throbbing down below. She rolled her eyes again, her sense of smell picked up the change in his scent, and set the man carefully in the sand. He looked at the mass in front of him and backed up a step.

"Wha. .wha. .what's. . ." he stammered. He gulped and placed a hand on his heart, clenching at his light shirt. He closed his eyes briefly, even as he shifted his weight. Gods, he was not meant for this.

"That's Hidad, the lost man. This is the one I warned them about." She stepped around Salmoneus and knelt by the body. She rolled it over with one hand, firmly clasping its shoulder. A horribly blistered face greeted the sun. There was a map crumpled in the body's hands. "He must have got tired early today." The demoness gently wiped the hair from the body's face and began carefully rearranging its position. Tok began sniffing at Hidad curiously. "Tok, go stand by Salmoneus. Go on." The daggite whuffled at her in disappointment, blowing air at the hand that was straightening out the map, then obediently went to stand by the shifting form of the merchant.

Salmoneus watched in amazement, as the demoness, a supposedly heartless creature, seemed to tenderly lay out the body in a position of immortal rest. He felt the presence of the daggite assert itself but found his attention riveted by what was being performed in front of him. He forgot to be scared. Izzy placed the flattened map carefully under folded hands. She held the body up by its ragged brown shirt. Then passed a hand underneath the body. When she set it down, the body remained on the surface of the sand.

Then she stood up, a toweringly beautiful frightening creature and turned to Salmoneus. The smile, which he now realized had been there, was gone from her eyes. He found that he missed it. A lot. "Come on Sal, let's go. Your friends are waiting."

The bearded man didn't say anything the rest of the way.

 


	6. Chapter 6

The beach had been a nice relief, from the pulsating heat of the Tartarus desert. Izzy had been right. The water was sweet and cool. Even Xena had shucked off her boots and let her feet revel in the pleasant chill of the liquid. She felt something nibble at her toe, but when she pulled her foot back, the toe was still there. Apparently, it wasn't a meat eater. She didn't want to test the waters too far though. This was Tartarus. She limited her steps to the point where the water washed up on the wet dark sand, and her feet. It was a moment of unexpectedly pure bliss.

Tok splashed mightily into the water, ignoring the startled yells of the Amazons who were suddenly much cooler and wetter than they expected to be. When they waved threateningly at it, the creature thought they were playing and immediately started running back and forth along the water's edge as fast as it could go. The Amazons were soaked by the time they figured out what was going on, but they were also laughing.

Salmoneus was oddly quiet as he rested his feet and body in the moist sand. Marcus asked him what it was like and all the merchant did was look up at him and say, "It was different than I expected." Perdicus started to ask what that meant, but Salmoneus' attention was diverted by the sight of a tall red form striding into the water.

He still felt warm and tingly along the left side of his body. He was more affected by the experience of seeing Hidad than he expected. He watched as Izzy stopped her wading. The water splashed lazily at her knees. She brought her hands up and rested them on her hips and looked out and out. Salmoneus wondered what she was seeing.

Xena knew it wasn't safe to assume anything, yet curiosity got the best of her. She also figured, for whatever reason, that Izzy hadn't deliberately brought them into danger. Yet.

Her long legs carried her forward until she was feeling the wash of the liquid brush against her mid-thigh. Her voice was calm, betraying none of the heat she felt in the demoness' presence. "What are you looking at?"

Izzy's lips curled up. "Elysia."

Xena blinked. "What?"

The red skinned female lifted her hand. "Elysia. It's on the other side." Xena looked out with her powerful eyes and could just make out, barely, the white sail of a ship and rugged outline of lush green lands.

"Zeus! How far is it?" She lifted a hand to cover her eyes and tried to gauge the distance. The other hand mirrored Izzy's and rested on her hip.

The demoness smirked. "In Tartarus, Elysia is always closer and *farther* than you think." She nodded out, "You can see, but you can't touch. It's like a lover you want, but can't have. It's too far away." The pitch of her voice dropped sadly.

"You have someone over there." It wasn't a question. The warrior could just barely make out figures in the boat.

Oh, Xena was smart. It would be best to remember that, the red-skinned woman thought. Izzy pursed her lips and contemplated the answer. "Well, she should be over there. She deserves it. She deserves happiness."

"You don't know? I thought the dead could hear a mortal's thoughts. If she loved you surely she called to you. Before." Xena dropped her hand and quit staring out over the water and took a stilling breath. She looked up at the creature beside her. Gods Izzy was at least two heads taller than she was.

Izzy shifted the weight of her body and turned to look at Xena through narrowed eyes, "After a certain point, it doesn't matter. I quit listening a long time ago." Oh it was so easy to form a lie on these lips, Izzy thought. She continued, "It was something I couldn't have," and as well as truth.

"You gave up hope."

"I accepted things as they are." The demoness grinned, very wickedly, and Xena was suddenly reminded how sharp those teeth were. Izzy held out a red hand. A claw poked out of one finger so quickly, that the warrior barely had time to move out of its way. Xena stepped back quickly, suddenly on her guard. Izzy's lips twisted. "See what I mean?" The warrior looked up, startled, and felt the impact of the lesson and its familiarity.

A very important question came to mind and she opened her mouth to speak, but Izzy was already turning. She clapped her hands together and the noise pealed across the water. "Time to move folks. We got a ways to go!"

==**==

The field was beautiful. It was lush and green. There were flowers and shady trees. A long long knife twirled slowly in the air. Xena touched the tip with her finger and felt the prick. A trickle of blood spilled from her finger. She smiled grimly. Hades was as good as his word.

It was almost humorous actually. She should have realized it wouldn't be as easy as she'd expected. Xena glanced up at the cross, at Izzy, sitting on the beam. Her long legs and pointed tail curled around the post. Her hands held to the beam. She was looking for something. Tok whined at the bottom, clawing at the post sharply, and the demoness chastised it with a few words. The daggite settled down but grumped. Izzy looked back out into the pinking sky.

The tents were set up. Salmoneus had already fallen into a deep sleep, overly tired from all that marching around. Marcus was showing Perdicus how to prepare a stew from their dried goods. Oriana was offering some cheerfully given points of advice. Melosa was standing near Xena, a frown fixed on her face. Her arms were folded across her chest and she peered up at the red creature who balanced so easily on the cross. "You're sure this is the place."

Xena skimmed her finger along the knife's edge, angry. "Oh yeah. This is it." She withdrew her finger and scanned around the meadow. "She used to dream about this place. She described it so well, I could see it in my own sleep." She breathed in the sweet air. Gods, that a place as lovely as this should be so nightmarish. She laughed, despite herself. Each to their own Tartarus. Gabrielle, as gentle as she was, created a sweet hell.

Melosa uncrossed her arms and sighed. "We'll find her. I know it." She laid a reassuring hand on Xena's shoulder. The warrior sighed.

Izzy jumped off the cross and landed with a soft thump, just besides Tok, who now grinned happily at her. She gave it a quick pet, the sauntered over to where Xena and Melosa stood conversing. They looked at her, neither of them smiling. Not that she expected them too. She knew the disappointment was hard.

"I've spotted something. It's light enough, close enough, we could go see and be back to camp before dark. If you want. . ."

Xena snarled forward, "If I want? If I want? Of course, I want." The irritable warrior turned to Melosa, "Tell Marcus and Perdicus I'll be back." She practically barked the statement out.

The Amazon chose not to be offended, and responded firmly, "Tell them yourself. I'm coming with you." Xena started to say something, then let it go. She nodded sharply and strode to the camp.

It was, as Izzy promised, not far. The two women, who were more tired than they let on, were able to keep up, but Izzy subtly altered her pace, so it was less demanding. She didn't think they noticed. Tok, prowled around the trees and through the low growth, scouting for something tasty.

It spotted them first, and let out a high piercing yowl. There were shouts of startlement, not to mention a bit of swearing as someone wiped off the hot spill from his thighs. Izzy stepped out from the undergrowth, followed by the two warrior women who had drawn their swords. The hordesmen gaped.

Then one shouted, "Duanuran!!!!" The demoness grinned and accepted the handclasp of the fiercely painted leader. He rattled off a few words of enthusiastic greeting before letting her arm go. Then she set about making introductions.

"Hunno! This is Xena. She is a great warrior." She waved the woman forward. Xena, unbelieving, but not able to avoid this, made her way up front. She sheathed her sword before accepting the extended arm. The leader clasped her arm firmly.

He nodded. His gaze was penetrating. "I remember you, warrior. You fought with heart. I have deep scars because of you." He pointed at his back and grinned, "Someday, we will trade battle stories and you will tell me how you learned to fight so well."

Xena kept her expression neutral. Her blue eyes blazed with hidden emotion. "I would like that." They held the clasp a moment longer, then let go at the same time.

Izzy waved Melosa forward, "This is Melosa. She was once the Queen of the Amazons. She is also a great warrior." Hunno extended his arm and grimaced friendly like.

"I have heard of the Amazons. There's a tribe on every level it is said. I wouldn't know." He grinned at the demoness, "Duanuran might." He returned his attention to the Amazon, "They are fierce fighters. Powerful. We honor them. The tribes sometimes trade with Amazons, for we have learned it is not worth the fight." He grinned and Melosa smiled and tried to keep the shock from showing.

She did it very well. Amazons. Tribes. In Tartarus. Artemis!!! Perhaps... She let the thought trail off, but images of a joined nation sprang to mind. Perhaps she would even see her sister. Again the clasp was held a moment longer, then released at the same time.

Hunno invited them to sit at the fire, but bid Duanuran keep that beast of hers away from the roast. Izzy grinned, then whispered to over to Xena unobtrusively, "Fake the eating, drink what they give you." The ex-warlord nodded. Izzy passed the same information to Melosa. They both tried to ignore the groaning sounds of the people on the X frames.

Cups were filled and bits of meat were passed around on leaves. All was accepted graciously and the conversation began. Eventually, the topic made its way around to Gabrielle. Xena spoke carefully, telling them that it was Gabrielle who figured out that "Kaltalka" meant water. She told them, that despite her good heart, she was sent to Tartarus.

The hordesmen blinked at her, not quite understanding. Izzy whispered to Xena, "They don't have the same idea of what Tartarus is. To them, this is the equivalent of Elysian fields, with lots of "fighting" and "becoming" levels." She grinned, "Actually they have quite a lot of fun here. They're not affected by, well, that's not important" She smiled toothily at Hunno and continued her whisper, "In their view, I'm a minor deity of a sort. Let me try." Xena nodded and strove to be patient.

"Hunno. Gabrielle was supposed to be in the dreaming lands, as you are, but she is not here. We have searched the place of her first trial and she has gone. Do you know where she might be."

The leader looked quietly at Izzy and said nothing for long long moments. He nodded his head slowly, "I know where she might be." He looked at Xena and spoke softly, "If she is not in her place of first learning, she must have gone to walk the wild ways. Sometimes ghost like ourselves become unhappy with where they are or sometimes they finish their lesson." He wiggled his hand back and forth, "It is different for everyone." He took a bite of flesh and chewed thoughtfully, "But eventually, all the ghosts... They hear of the wild ways, for that is how it is, and then they must wander to find their new face."

This was news to Xena, but then again, she hadn't been in Tartarus that long. "Their new face?" she queried

He nodded. "The wild ways are where the Gods are made. Some choose to become Gods and some choose to become other and some simply wander. They walk the levels, until they are formed, settled, or they find the way to Sun's home."

Melosa spoke, "The Sun's home." Her eyes began to register awareness.

"It is in the final lands, where the mad gods reign, the Sun's home has an opening. There are no guards to keep one out or in. One may go or stay as one pleases."

Xena's eyes went wide as the implication hit, "There's a portal to the Elysian fields, where there are no guards?" Her heart thudded painfully in her chest.

Hunno waved his hands forward and smiled, "Yes, no guards."

Melosa and Xena looked at each other with a sudden vivid understanding. Gods. Gabrielle had tried for the portal!


	7. Chapter 7

"You knew!" Xena accused, stealthing forward only out of long habit. Her long steps were still angry. Her voice rasped in the noisy silence of the woods. Melosa followed quietly, a knife held firmly in one hand and the long ears of the dumbunny in the other. She ignored the pain from the patched-up bite on her calf. That had been very close, but now that she knew what signs to watch for, she wouldn't be caught out again.

Izzy didn't look at the warrior, but whistled Tok back from whatever it was she was teasing. She wanted the daggite where she could see it. Dark was coming all too soon. "It was not my job to tell you." She sounded calm, reasonable. She flashed a nasty grin, "I'm just a tour guide. I thought you might want to meet some locals."

The red female stopped abruptly and the slurring sound of a knife could be heard whizzing into the underbrush at her side. There was a loud squeal. "Tok, Fetch!" The daggite scrambled down on its belly and dragged out the kill. The dumbunny's jaw hung open and revealed long sliver like teeth. The small pointy tail still twitched. The six grey-furred legs hung limp. Tok dropped the creature from its mouth at Izzy's feet.

"Besides," she said as she retrieved the knife, "You didn't ask for my help. You still haven't." The fiery-haired one seemed to pull a packet out of her skirt, but where it was hidden Xena couldn't tell. She cut the bunny in several places, poured the dried leaf-like substance in the open wounds and pushed the kill towards the daggite, "There you go Tok, have a bit of dinner." The bunny would help push that other nasty bit of flesh through. The herbs would take some of the pain away. She hoped.

Xena felt the stillness grow in her soul. No, she hadn't asked, had she. She looked at the demoness, who was staring affectionately at the daggite. It was as if the warrior were seeing her for the first time. The blue-eyed woman took a deep breath and pulled herself together. "Thank you." She said it genuinely. Tok grabbed the bunny and scampered ahead before Izzy could change her mind.

Fiery green eyes looked up and captured Xena's ice blue regard, "You're welcome."

They were more than halfway to the camp when Melosa asked. The dumbunny was now looped to her belt. Izzy had promised to show her how to cure the meat. Xena had fallen back. Her expression was both pained and thoughtful and unrevealing. The Amazon could appreciate the state of mind. "You've been to all the levels. Is there a portal Izzy?"

The demoness didn't stop her slow walking. She looked to the side and then back at Tok. The sky was beginning to darken and the daggite looked a bit peaked. It's enthusiastic lope was now a determined stroll. The stomach bulged. The whining was gonna start any moment now.

Izzy nodded, "Yes."

Melosa took a breath and held her thought for a moment before letting it out, "You saw it."

Izzy's lips quirked up, though her gaze remained concerned, "I stepped through it."

Melosa stopped abruptly. "*YOU* were in Elysia?!" Her shock carried through the forest and out into the Tartarus hinterlands. Izzy rolled her eyes and didn't stop moving. Tok was starting to sniff around the trees a bit desperately.

Xena caught up, passed Melosa and strode beside the demoness for a moment, "You were in Elysia?" She asked, not out of shock, but with a different kind of question in mind.

Izzy nodded. "I was." She smiled softly. It made her face look very lovely, "Several times." Her hands moved in demonstration, "I kept stepping back and forth, back and forth. I couldn't believe my good fortune. It was so miraculous to me." Her eyes were gentle.

"But you didn't stay," the warrior pressed. They walked quietly for a moment. Melosa caught up to hear the rest of the conversation.

"No." Izzy spoke very softly, "I didn't stay." Tok whimpered and the demoness' red ears flicked. Poor baby.

Xena took a deep breath. "Why?" Izzy nearly laughed but didn't. Instead, she chose to explain.

"Elysia is beautiful." Melosa nodded, listening. "Broad blue sky, the color of your eyes," Izzy pointed at a startled Xena and smiled, "Fields so lush, they hold every hope in them. I was in love with the place as soon as I saw it. Delighted with it." The demoness looked forward again. Her hands were still animated. "After I teased myself with the in and out bit, I finally started looking at where I was. I could hear every sweet sound there was, smell every scent." The demoness' lips quirked, "Or so I thought. There was this pool. It was so still you could see the world in it." She took a sighing breath, "I knelt down, only meaning to taste the coolness of the water, but I caught sight of a reflection. I don't know how long I stared."

"What did you see?" Melosa asked.

Izzy grinned widely, shook her head, and dragged her hand as if drawing the horizon line, "The Truth. My self. Everything."

It was at that moment that Tok began to whine.


	8. Chapter 8

The loud howls and moans permeated the air and shivered through the campers' bones. "Gods!" Marcus cried out, holding his hands to his ears, "I hate this part!" Salmoneus grimaced in response. His own ears were covered with his blanket pressed against his head by his arms. He'd been very soundly sleeping when it all started and had just enough sleep to be thoroughly grumpy. The stew, while finished, remained in the pot, uneaten. The retching sounds put the adventurers off their feed.

Oriana looked morosely out into the deepening dark, hoping to catch sight of her lover. The demon had promised they'd be back by now. Where were they? A worry started niggling in her chest. They should never have trusted her. She was. . .

Perdicus, who had better night vision than anyone knew, gave the call. "There they are!" He bounced up on his feet, ignoring the roiling in his stomach. He was just glad to see Xena. It didn't occur to him, until after they entered the camp circle, that Izzy was nowhere to be seen. "Where's the demon?"

Melosa settled onto the log, besides Oriana. She untied the dumbunny from her belt. "She'll be here in a while." A horrendously loud and painful sounding yowl pierced the air. The Amazon grimaced, very grateful for the demoness' advice. Unlike her compatriots, her stomach was as calm as you please. She grabbed a bowl and ladled into the stew. Perdicus turned a little green.

Xena grinned, "Stomach bothering you?" She grabbed the man's wrist and tapped him hard and quick. He gasped back in shock, grabbing his hand away. The change in his expression, when he realized that he wasn't queasy anymore, was worth the jab.

Gods, she loved pressure points. Xena grinned evilly and waved Marcus forward.

Sometime later Izzy settled onto the log on the opposite side of the dimming fire. Tok, who still didn't look so good settled at her feet. The metal stretched sound of sharpening sung through the now almost silent air. Izzy found the rhythm comforting.

Xena looked up, unsmiling. She nodded at the daggite, whose head was now cushioned between its paws. "Is *it* going to be alright?"

Izzy grimaced and settled her hand on the creature's head, lightly caressing its horns. She looked back and smiled dourly. "Yet another soul returned the hard way. Yes. She will be fine." The demoness shook her head, "It's so damn difficult for everyone. The soul, who must be returned to itself for the next day, the Tartaran's who must expel what they have eaten, and the people who have to listen to all the ruckus because some Tartarans are so hooked they can't see the damage they do to themselves." She sniffled in disgust.

"And the souls?" Xena asked. She recontinued the even sound of her sharpening.

Izzy sighed and nodded, "And the souls."

The demoness watched the way the muscles played in Xena's arms as she worked. She settled back against the log, letting her palms rest against the rough surface. There were sounds of life forms chirruping and coughing serenely in the night air. Izzy smiled softly. She really did love this part of Tartarus country. Salmoneus was snoring very lightly. Izzy hid the grin that threatened to take over her face. She listened to the sleepy noise of lovemaking in the other tents. She did tend to have that effect on humans.

Xena looked up at her with questioning blue eyes. Her hands never stilled, but they moved from her sword to her dagger. "Did you ever?"

The demoness intuited the rest of the question and answered honestly, "Yes." No sense dodging. She was a Tartaran after all.

Xena nodded carefully and let the silence fall between them. The sharpening noise began again, like a short metal heartbeat.

Izzy leaned forward, resting her elbows on her knees. She looked quietly into the fire. "I was terribly hungry, starved." Xena looked up. "I didn't know what it was, only that it smelled okay, edible. It wasn't rotted as I expected." Izzy pursed her lips and looked into the night air, "The guard smiled at me, without all those teeth, you know and I thought, he's being friendly, it can't be bad." The demoness laughed.

"It wasn't, at first." She winced in memory then shrugged. "How was I to know?"

Xena looked up, the sound of metal being scraped was gone. "My only consolation, when I found out the truth, was that the I also discovered that the souls go back to themselves." Izzy grinned lopsidedly, a little painfully, and looked contemplatively at her hands, "I've seen it from both sides. In and out," she explained.

The warrior closed her eyes and swallowed. She heard Izzy's voice as if from a distance, "I know you were in Tartarus before. Everyone knows that. Did you ever?" Xena opened her eyes and forced her hands to stop trembling. Her mind kept thinking. . and Gabrielle?

"No." The warrior didn't mean it to sound as sharp as it did and grimaced apologetically.

Izzy didn't take offense, "I didn't expect that you would." She looked at Xena reflectively, "You've got a strong will." She sat up straight and fiddled with the hem of her skirt, "I had to work on mine." The way her fingers moved caught Xena's attention for a moment and the warrior felt a tingly little pulse in her groin. Gods, such a subject and all she could think of was how those hands would feel against her skin.

She took a breath and nodded softly in acknowledgment of the demoness' answer. Izzy noted the tired set of the warrior's shoulders. The Tartaran days and nights were long, much longer than earth days. "You should get some rest. I figure you'll want to go searching for your friend tomorrow." The warrior gazed at Izzy for a second before sliding the dagger in its sheath. Again, thought the warrior, she does this without the asking.

The darkly beautiful woman gave the demoness a sidelong glance and began packing her supplies away. Actually, there was more stuff here than she usually carried. It felt odd, but there was no Argo to do the transporting. She missed her steed. "Where are we going?"

"Tomorrow we're starting on the first level." Xena raised her eyebrows in surprise. Izzy nodded, "This is the trial level." She waved in the general area, "Everyone starts here. To move on, those who are being punished have to let go of their trials." Xena nodded carefully, assimilating what she was being told.

The demoness shifted a bit, letting her legs cross over comfortably, "Like Marta, the woman who carried the world on her shoulders." The warrior's lips quirked at the imagery. Izzy continued, using her body to tell part of the story, "One day, when the world just felt too heavy, she said, 'I'm tired of carrying this around.' Her hands let go and the weight of the world fell off of her shoulders. For the first time in eons, she could stand upright. She saw a vast beautiful field in front of her and started walking, the old world was forgotten. Eventually, after several adventures, since not everyone knows the shortcuts," Xena's lips quirked up, "she made her way to the plains and began the first level." Xena looked thoughtful and Izzy tossed a stick into the fire, "Tomorrow morning since I do know the shortcuts," Xena laughed lightly, "we'll start walking the plains."

Izzy grinned her toothy smile and her eyes flashed, "We may even if we're lucky, catch a ride." She shrugged and settled her hands back against the logs rough surface, "Of course, we may have to fight for it. The Plainsmen don't give up their strigers too easily."

The warrior's eyes lit up. She always did love a good fight and truth be told, she was in the mood for one. She grinned, for the first time really, back at Izzy. "Well," she said, as she stood up, and started walking toward her tent. "Who said things had to be easy?"

The demon laughed gently in appreciation, and watched the sway of Xena's hips until the woman was out of her sight. She listened to the drowsy greetings and took a deep breath. Then she slid down besides Tok, began slowly stroking its soft scaled body, and watched the Tartarus stars come out.


	9. Chapter 9

The plains were just that. Plain. And Grassy. They seemed to extend into forever, with no apparent end in sight. Tok, who looked much better than she did last night, padded by Izzy's side and sat down on its haunches.

Izzy assured Xena that there was more variety than could be perceived here at the edges. There were beautiful spaces ahead, though they wouldn't be stopping there. She wanted to get them through as quickly as possible. She'd quipped about fighting with the plainsmen yesterday, but upon remembering her own experiences, she'd determine to try and avoid them. There was no guarantee that they would win a battle with the inhabitants. In fact, it was more likely they would lose. On foot was best for now.

She had them bring some fire wood for the night's camp. The trail they were taking wouldn't lead them to any woodland. They would be hiking and the woods were too far.

Izzy wasn't sure where they would find themselves the next morning. They could all be camping safely that evening, or they could be split up by death, or not. She didn't know how the tokens worked. When Tartarans got "killed" they usually ended up in their original starting zone, she explained. She couldn't even begin to count how many times she started over. It was why most people quit before reaching ninth level. They got tired of beginning again. Of course, one got to know the lands well, real well, that way. Then she quipped, "Xena probably still has her old room." The warrior had folded her arms and smirked back.

"So you expect us to die so soon then?" asked Melosa. She was a practical woman and liked to know things ahead of time, if possible. She shrugged on the burden of her supplies, resettling the pack on her hips. Her skin glowed a healthy pink in the early morning sun. All of them would be very tan by the time they returned to the fields.

The demon looked out on the plains. "The trial zones have their dangers, but now. .now we come to a different kind of land. You don't know it like I do, nor do you know the peoples. To some, you will be food," Salmoneus blanched, "to others you will be entertainment," She grinned toothily at them and their imaginations took over, "and still to others, you will just be humans, not worth their attention or time." She pointed at the pelt on the back of Melosa's pack, "The dumbunnies are the least of the creatures that can bite, scratch, maim and kill you. There are plants here that will snake out, grab you and have you for lunch. Sometimes the land will be so rough you will think that it is deliberately trying to stop you from your goal. I've fallen off more cliff faces than I care to remember. So watch your step. In Tartarus, nothing is as it seems."

Oriena spoke up. Her hand was placed nervously on her knife hilt, "Is there any safe place?"

The demoness laughed. Then she waved out her hand, "Oh there are plenty of places rest and gather your resources. You might call that safe. There are villages full of human beings who have "reformed" enough to get along. There are villages where humans and demons intermingle. Tartarus isn't all bad. Nothing is all bad. But, it is not safe like Elysia." She held up a red finger and pointed it at Oriena, "If you wanted that kind of safe, you should have stayed back there." Her firm gaze pierced through all of them. Marcus folded his arms across his chest and tried to look tough, but he gulped. Perdicus fidgeted. Only Xena and the Amazons didn't flinch.

The blonde stepped forward, cut to the quick. Her expression was menacing. Melosa pulled her back. The brunette smoothed her lover's arm soothingly, "We're not worried about that," said the Queen, "we just seek our own." Oriena worked to calm her expression.

Izzy nodded quietly, "See that you're careful then. I'd hate for you to waste your tokens on stickberries." Oriena winced at the reference, remembering the early morning's lesson.

She'd thought they were strawberries. Izzy told her afterwards, that they were probably related. Certainly they were juicy enough. They had made a fine addition to breakfast and Oriena had been sure to explain the process of getting them to Melosa. No sense in everyone suffering. The memory was embarrassing.

The blonde had been about to reach out when a red hand had grabbed hers. She'd looked up into fierce green eyes and an angry violent expression that sent fear to her very core. "What do you think you're doing?" the creature had snarled. Oriena thought she'd seen every single tooth the demon had. The creature's grip was so strong on her wrist it left bruises.

Oriena had stuttered for the first time in her life. She couldn't even remember what it was she'd tried to say. She'd been harshly pushed back by the arm, then, the demoness had bent to the ground, picked up a bit of wood the size of a forearm and stuck it abruptly into the bush.

The long sharp needles had gone straight through and there were so many of them it reminded her of those quilled beast one sometimes saw in the woods. "Now you can pick the berries," said Izzy, "You have about a candlemark before it reloads." The demoness plucked a few needles out and held them in her hand. "These could come in handy later, do you want them?" The blonde had nodded, not really wanting them, but not wanting to incur the demon's wrath again. Izzy handed the evidence of her stupidity to the woman, said, "They're not poisonous, go ahead and pick them," and then stalked off to find out if anyone else was involved in foolishness.

They started out at a conservative pace. Tok rambled ahead, sometimes getting lost in the grasses, but she never went too far. Salmoneus, whose thighs were a bit achy, was able to keep up, though he was surprisingly silent.

Izzy's gaze constantly roamed as if she were searching for something, though she led them unerringly in what seemed to be a northern direction. The demoness would stop, every now and then, to show them tracks or other signs of life and explain which creature was edible and which they should avoid. She did the same with the plant life, explaining the seasons, the kinds, edibles versus poisonous, preparations. Once Oriena got over her mad, she asked more questions than Melosa. Xena asked more questions than Oriena. Salmoneus took copious notes. (A tour book was beginning to sound like an option).

The morning passed quickly. They stopped briefly for lunch, munched on some leftover berries and dumbunny and a few other things. Izzy stood watch and ignored the conversation. Tok gnawed on a bone.

It was kind of hard to miss the pensive expression on the demoness' face. Xena could feel the tension emanating from the creature and she felt it mirroring within herself. She stood up, stretching casually and meandered to where the tall one gazed out upon the land.

"Something bothering you?" the warrior asked. She stood loosely, letting her feet get to know the ground. Izzy looked at her, then back up and out.

"Yes," she said. Her eyes scanned the horizon and narrowed, "You should be in Elysia." Her expression was cold.

Xena's nostrils flared at Izzy's tone of voice. "Oh?" she answered. Her voice was dangerously low.

"All of you should be." The demoness placed a hand on her knife and Xena's own hand bent toward her Chakram. So this is it then? She felt an excitement build in her that was almost sexual. She prepared herself to respond as quickly as possible to the threat. Then Izzy returned her gaze to Xena's and the warrior noticed that there was no maliciousness in the look, no hatred, no prejudice.

There was only worry. Lots of worry.

The warrior's hand eased away from the Chakram. Her body relaxed, but the sexual feeling remained. It was a bit disconcerting, irritating. Izzy smirked despite herself. She shook her head, "It's not me you have to worry about Xena." She pointed out to the plain and the warrior looked. A cloud of dust seemed to be moving their direction. Izzy finished her statement, "It's them."


	10. Chapter 10

Xena organized the campers quickly. Izzy stayed out of it, and watched briefly as the adventurers prepared themselves. She called Tok to her and knelt down, whispering in its ears as she smoothed her hand over its alert skin. Melosa happened to be close enough at one point to hear the last two words the demoness gave before the daggite slipped out of sight. "Tok, Hunt."

Perdicus and Salmoneus found themselves in the middle. The stronger fighters planned to make a ring around the weaker two. Oriena loaded the quarrels into the crossbows for herself and Melosa. Marcus prepared his bow. They'd have at least a few good shots.

Izzy swore softly, once she was able to make out the approaching plainsmen. Damn Him Damn Him Damn Him. The growl started in her throat before she could stop it. She turned and snapped out, "I'll take care of the big one!" Then she was running.

It was an eerie moment for Xena. Deja vu from the other side. She recognized in a vivid revelation that it could have been her on one of those gigantic mounts. In fact, it had been her at one time, waving a sword, running at trampling speed, across a plain. Gods.

She watched as Izzy moved impossibly fast, roaring so loudly she could be heard over the din of the hoof beats. She saw the "big one" and he was huge, massively built, broad shoulders and slim hips (for his size). The rack on his head was easily the length of her arm, on either side. It curled up and split like a deer's. His skin was the color of refined copper. He was laughing and his laugh met with Izzy's roar and clashed. He raised his sword and yelled his "men" forward. Xena could see that quite a few of them bore the mark of Tartarus.

Then the leader jumped off his mount, started running towards Izzy and sprouted wings; hand span after hand span of a leathery set of wings. He took flight, going low. Izzy leapt and they were grappling, clawing and snarling. Xena's heart shot straight to her throat, because the blood was flying. . and she didn't know whose it was. The tribe leader pulled the female Tartaran in the air, high high above the battlefield. The warrior came nigh unto forgetting that there was a problem on the ground. The fighting above was incredibly vicious.

Melosa shouted, "Xena!!" The warrior's attention immediate fell to the present and oncoming problem. She raised her Chakram, shouted to Marcus and they let loose the first volley. Three riders went down from her Chakram alone, their necks were sliced almost clean through. The round disc was bloody by the time it returned to Xena's hand. Marcus' shot impaled one solidly in the chest and it went down with a loud scream. The Amazons got off one shot before they had to drop the crossbows and pull their swords. Tok roared from out of nowhere and tackled a screaming tribesman. That's when the plainsmen knew they were in trouble.

Marcus, Melosa and Oriena pulled in close around Perdicus and Salmoneus. Xena did her thing. Her ulating cry was pierced the air and she flipped high high up like a damned native. Her sword drove into the chest of her victim and she kicked the woman off the mount and took control.

It wasn't Argo, but it was trained. In moments she had a sense of its movement and was riding the striger as if she'd done so all her life. She turned the mount to face off against its former owners and suddenly it was mayhem. . . for the plainsmen. She blazed through her opponents, enjoying the sound of her whistling blade and squishy noise it made when plunged deep into something's chest.

Tok attacked with a neat precision that only daggites have. She obediently kept close to the blue eyed warrior and struck on one side while Xena took the other. The olive skinned woman never had to worry about her back and once she realized that, she didn't.

The Amazons fought valiantly. It was a severe disadvantage to be on the ground, but when they had the chance they decided to even the playing field. . .the Amazon way. Oriena, it turned out, had powerful legs and she made a full body jump that dumped one rider to the ground, but left her standing precariously on the mount. She grinned at Melosa and pulled her up. Then they started creating a ruckus of their own.

Marcus went down after saving Salmoneus' life. Something snapped in Perdicus. The human who was pulling the sword out of the dark man's chest never knew what hit him and the farmer beserked out into the battle.

Salmoneus would have dragged the body away, but there was nowhere to take it. He looked up and caught sight of the most amazing thing. He could hardly credit his eyes, but far above him it seemed that Izzy was wrapped tightly around the demon. They didn't seem like they were fighting anymore, in fact, if he wasn't mistaken they were. . . It wasn't until he felt the whiz of air just above his head that he was able to drag his attention back to his own dangerous situation.

He managed somehow to duck under the striger and away from the sword. He heard the cry before he saw the body slump off. He turned and saw Xena. There was blood and gore all over her body, but she seemed okay. She winked at him and gave an ironic smile.

Izzy pushed off of the plainsmen leader with a growl and let herself fall, feeling the wind push against her body. When it seemed like she was this close to slamming into the ground she let her own wings unfurl. She picked up a spear that was impaled in the ground and used it to smack at the impertinent rider who thought he could shoot her down. He went flying. Then she gathered a startled Salmoneus in her arms and lifted him away from the carnage.

One musical note blew out from the horn taken from the leader's belt. The plainsmen, who'd been frantically, unbelievably, losing, began pulling back from the battle. The strigers herded together obediently. The one's under Melosa, Oriena and Xena's control pulled together on one side and the one's under the plainsmen's control gathered on the other side. The dead and injured were left on the ground.

The leader stepped lightly down from the air and waited with his arms folded over a vested chest. There was some severe scarring over the place where his heart would be located. There were deep deep scratches, gouges, and bites all over him. He looked like he didn't mind. He was grinning widely.

Perdicus was still fighting, despite what looked like and obvious called truce. The individual was trying to get away, but the beserker wouldn't let him past. In fact, it looked like he was close to finishing the tribesman off. Xena dropped off the striger, handing the reigns quickly to Melosa. She ran and got the Perdicus' attention by giving her cry. He turned, and with a wild look in his eye, swung at her with his sword. She leapt behind him and punched him when he turned around. He fell down in a lump.

The human sized, blue hued, Tartaran Perdicus was fighting bowed quickly. He wore no horns. She snarled, "Go!" She was still feeling the pounding of her blood. He ran to the other side, bowing once quickly when he passed the leader. She picked up Perdicus, carried him to where Marcus lay staining the ground and set the man down carefully, affectionately. She stood up just in time to see Izzy land and set Salmoneus down.

"Have a nice fuck?" Xena asked angrily as she dropped the Perdicus' sword to the ground. There was an unexpected tinge of jealousy in the remark. She could feel it in the back of her heart. She didn't know where it came from.

Izzy growled back, her eyes still a little wild, "I've had better." Izzy stalked off to meet with the leader. Her tail was twitching in angrily. Salmoneus stared at Xena, then back at Izzy.

He didn't know if it would help. "Xena, she said she just wanted to distract him long enough. . ." The warrior waved a hand out.

"Save it." She brushed a suddenly weary hand through blood crusted hair. "I don't care," she lied. "She can do whatever she wants. She's just the damned tour guide." Sal opened his mouth, then shut it.

Marcus began groaning. Xena knelt down quickly and gently touched the man's hand. He opened his eyes and smiled weakly. Well there was one question answered. She kissed him tenderly on the forehead, promised she would be back, asked Salmoneus to take care of him, and then made her way to where the demons were talking.

His name was Mylek. Izzy was painfully poking him in the chest, giving him a verbal hate massage, when Xena arrived. The blue eyed human stalked forward, listening to the "negotiations," that were taking place.

Xena stepped up besides Izzy, giving the demoness a baleful glare. The red woman sneered and Mylek used the opportunity to grab the jabbing hand. He held it close to his heart. His voice rippled sexily through the valley. The ex warlord blinked and tried to place the accent. She recognized it, though not the voice. He said, "Your humans fought honorably, Izzy." He made a sideways glance and smiled broadly. His teeth sparkled in the light, "Especially your warrior woman." Xena blinked at the tone of voice and phrasing and felt her heart thump once against her chest.

Izzy looked shocked. Then angry. She started in defensively, "You bastard. Don't you dare start your lame attempts at matchmaking. You know I don't. . ."

The warrior took a really good look at Izzy and suddenly perceived the bloody bloody cuts and gouges on the demoness body. She didn't gasp, but lifted her eyes and knew with a certainty that it pained the red woman. She wasn't the only one who noticed. Izzy was so involved with being angry at Mylek that she didn't notice the stares.

He grinned evilly at Izzy and spoke quickly covering up what she was going to say with his words. "I promise you and yours a safe haven. You may have the strigers that you've won this day. Come join us. We will set up a feast that even your humans may enjoy." He leaned in, "There will be baths" he promised.

Izzy opened her mouth, ready to blast him. Xena spoke up, grinning mirthlessly, "I know I could use one."

He inhaled deeply, tasting the air on his forked tongue, "Oh! It was a fine. . .battle." He leered down at Izzy, who yanked her hand away from his and growled. There was such a fire in this one. He was lucky she hadn't taken his heart again. He was more lucky that she had given it back.

He nodded at the blue eyed warrior, "Of course. We'll set up tents for you." He smiled down at Xena, and listened to the way her heartbeat increased, "You may night with us. Then tomorrow, you may be on your way. Is this not fair?" Xena nodded slowly and looked at Izzy.

The demoness closed her eyes and let out a slow breath. "It's fair." Then she poked him in the chest again, "But if you so much as *say* anything out of line, I'll take that tongue of yours and rip it out. Understood?"

Mylek laughed. Gods. He glanced over in Xena's direction and then back at Izzy. It was good to see them again.


	11. Chapter 11

He found her sitting alone. Her friends were currently involved in learning what they could about the tribe ways. Melosa couldn't believe there were children here. Perdicus hadn't left Marcus' side since waking. Izzy was still in the bath, perhaps tending her wounds, but no one knew. She'd refused anyone's help, telling them it would heal soon enough.

Stubborn woman.

Her long dark hair was combed back, braided. She'd traded in her bloodied leathers for black leather trousers and a vibrant blue tunic. The leathers were being cleaned by Imani. She was expert at those things, or so Imani said.

"Hello Xena," he said. His greeting was warm, friendly.

The blue eyed woman looked up at him, appearing unstartled, "Hello Borias." She deliberately relaxed, though her hand subtly shifted to where she'd placed her Chakram.

He nodded, "I saw you here and thought we should talk." He indicated the space beside her, "May I?"

Oh, so he was going for charming. Fine then. She nodded and let her body go soft. Borias sat down and took one of her hands in his. She deliberately chose not to yank it away, but to see where this was leading. She looked into his eyes and felt that old blaze of attraction. Gods. What was he doing here?

He smiled, "We have a son." He said it with pride. "You honored me by carrying him. I thank you." He smiled serenely at her stare, "You honored me more, by giving him a good parent." He squeezed her hands gently in his. Xena nodded, not quite able to place in words what she felt. "I thank you again."

He lifted her hand, opened his vest and placed it over his heart. Her fingers reflexively felt the scars on his chest and she looked at him with a suddenly painful understanding. He looked intently at her, "Not everything is as it seems Xena." He let go of her hand, but it remained there for a moment longer. Now she knew why she recognized the accent. She took a breath.

"I have a story to tell you Xena. Do you wish to hear it?" The ex warlord slowly withdrew her hand and nodded carefully. He began.

"There was a woman, a long time ago, who made it to the plains. Ours is not the only tribe, but she entered near our territory. She was young, naive. She ran when she saw us, as well she should. Of course, we captured her. I had her for dinner. She was back the next day, though at a later time. It was the same thing. She was back the next day. Earlier. So she was lunch. It was like this. . I don't know how long. Every day. Every day she came back, earlier and earlier. She got sneaky. She learned, somewhere, how to use a sword. She would make it farther and farther into the plains before we discovered her. She would fight sometimes and she got better and better, but she never won. There were too many of us.

It got to where, when she would see us, she wouldn't run anymore. Then, she started greeting us by name." Xena stared at him, "One day, I don't know which of us decided it, we let her live a little longer and ride with us." He looked at his hands and stared out, past the warrior. Her expression had become stone, "The next day it was longer, and the next, until she was living among us, learning our ways. She wouldn't eat the meat." He laughed, "She said, she'd been on both ends and didn't find it fulfilling." The warrior felt a cold shiver go up her spine. She closed her eyes briefly. "So she started trying other things. You should have seen some of the scars she got. I told her, since she wasn't going to be our lunch, I was going to have her a different way." Xena's breathing stilled. Her vision turned dark, but she tried to hold back. She needed the full story. Kill later. Maim later.

He sighed, "I never got around to it." Xena shuddered out the breath she was holding. "She left one night, during the time of the howling. I didn't see her again for a long time, until one day she was walking the plain again. She said she'd been caught out on second level. We had a nice talk. She'd come by every now and then, to tell me where she'd been. I didn't see her cherub face or golden red hair after fifth level." He looked up at Xena and patted her leg. She looked at him with deep blue eyes, "I tell you this, so you know."

He continued. "I asked her once, why she did this. What drove her on. She said it was a great love and that she'd promised to meet that love at the portal of the Elysian Fields. I told her we all make that promise, but sometimes it can't be kept." He blinked, "She said, 'I know, but I have to try.' Then she disappeared and I never saw her again." He set his shoulders forward, rested his forearms on his thighs and let his fingers twine together.

"I met Izzy not too long after. That's not really her name. It's Izacon. And it wasn't really a meeting. It was a battle." He smiled grimly, "She was wild. More wild than many I've seen. She tore out my heart. Three times. The first time we battled she said it was for her. The second time she said it was for her heart. The third time she said it was for her heart's heart."

He looked firmly at Xena. "I am not bragging when I say that I am hard to beat. I have been here a long time. I made it to sixth level. Izzy made it to ninth. That is why I have the scars. It is said, that ninth level, if they surpass the madness, they can kill forever, a truly final sleep.

When she came for me the fourth time, I thought it was over. I expected to exist no more." He breathed out a sigh, "But this time, instead of taking my heart, she gave it back." He looked at Xena. "I have a wife now." Xena nodded, expecting to hear. . ."Her name is Jilith." The warrior's eyes flipped open. "She has brought great peace to my life. When Izzy introduced us, I couldn't believe my good fortune. I have wanted to provide the same for her. That's why I teased her and called you her woman."

"She needs someone who would appreciate the good in her and her wildness. I know you. I've watched you change. You are like a coin. Similar in content, but different on the sides. It would be good for her to have someone like you." He grinned lopsidedly. "All she does is wander this world. . . .I don't think she's ever. . ."

Xena interrupted, "But I saw. . "

"That was sex. Nothing of the heart. It happens to us sometimes, when we get too involved in the battle. We can't really help it."

"Borias?"

"Yes."

A warm hand descended to his lap, then grabbed and yanked. He winced and tried to move with the pull, "You hurt her like that" A vision of those deep angry wounds filled her mind with its bloody image and she came oh so near to doing the deed right then, "You fuck her like that again," she deserved better, "and I will tear this out by the root. Every day. You understand?"

She felt the change more than saw it. He glared down at her. His voice was feral. "You forget what I am Xena."

She yanked harder and he gasped, surprised by the pain and the strength of her arm. She stared up at him with roiling cold blue eyes. "You forget what *I* am, Borias. .Or were you lying when you said you'd been paying attention to my life?"

He shuddered first and nodded finally. She forced her fingers to unclench and moved her hand away. He sat back up and tried manfully not to favor that bit of flesh (couldn't help the wincing though). "Xena?"

"Yes."

He gave her a long assessing glance, "It won't be easy. She says she, 'doesn't do humans.' She means it. I would take the long way around, if I were you. Though," he grinned wickedly at her, "If anyone can break her defenses. . ." He smiled in reminiscence. "You always were a great seductress."

Xena pursed her lips and folded her arms. Her expression was thoughtful. "Borias, can I ask you a question?"

"Yes, Xena."

"You changed your shape, can . . ."

"There is a difference between can and will Xena."

The warrior nodded her understanding. She stood up quickly. Her mind was already making plans. First things first, "Thank you Borias."

"You're welcome."

"Get out," she said. Her voice was mild, but her back had stiffened as soon as dark warrior entered the the tent. Tok tilted her daggite head, looking back and forth between them.

"No." she said. Xena's voice was just as mild. There was the sound of something thumping on a table, and the tinkle of a ceramics. Izzy could smell the herbs. She could smell Xena. The daggite whuffled once, then put her head between her paws. No threat.

She turned around in the tub. This was the second bath. The first had been ruddy with her stain. She didn't grimace with the turning, though she wanted to. "I told you I didn't need help."

Xena picked up a fresh towel and strode to the tub. "Who says I'm helping *you.*" Izzy looked at her in confusion. The warrior continued. "There are three men and two women out there who depend on you being your best." She let the towel unfold into her open arms, "One of them has already lost a token. Will you be your best if you don't see to those wounds?"

Xena watched impassively as Izzy worked that thought process out in her brain. Xena was relying on the demoness' altruism. It was the only trait that she absolutely knew was still there. The horned one pursed her lips and looked at the warrior. Then she nodded. The water drizzled down almost crimson skin when she stood up. Xena pretended not to notice and willed her heart to keep its even beat.

"Fine," Izzy said.


	12. Chapter 12

Izzy held the striger's reigns firmly in her grip, probably a little more tightly than necessary. Mylek, standing unnecessarily close to a certain tall, dark, and blue eyed warrior, was explaining the training methodology used for the strigers (which had a kind of pack mentality) and the use of the horn which he was handing to her. The demoness turned her attention away from the way he seemed to brush against Xena. The warrior didn't seem to mind, but of course she wouldn't. He was Tartaran. Izzy forced herself to unclench her hand and looked balefully at the striped grass colored creature that was to be her mount.

It wasn't that she didn't like strigers. They were reliable steeds, capable of traveling tremendous distances speedily, for long lengths of time. Their tough hide made excellent boots and other wear. It was simply that she trusted her own feet more.

Still, riding the strigers, they would make better time, and the sooner they got underway, the sooner they were finished. For this, she would sacrifice her prejudice. She sighed and patted the animal's side. Gods, let this be over soon.

Tok stalked around the strigers' legs, checking on everyone within the group. It gave Salmoneus a rush when it blew at his feet, but the stout man had somehow managed not to faint. Melosa was already on her steed. The daggite, lifted itself up on its hind legs, placed its forepaws on the tough striger skin and huffed at the Amazon. Her pale yellow and tan spotted striger, usually a stoic creature, turned its eyes fearfully at the daggite and danced nervously to the side, but Tok didn't lose its place. Melosa reigned the striger in sharply, making that clicking noise she'd been taught to get the gigantic creature to settle down.

Melosa, who'd noticed that the Tartarans kept well away from the daggite, leaned down a bit and carefully, oh so carefully, touched its snout. Gods, for all she knew, it would bite her hand off. But it was worth the risk to show those Tartarans a thing or two. She felt the rush of warm air from its nostrils and gazed steadily into its foreign eyes. The daggite huffed once more at her, accepting her dominance. The pitch of its "voice" was different. She sat up proudly and let the reigns settle comfortably in her hands. Tok dropped down, satisfied, and continued its rounds.

Oriena let out the breath she was holding and shook her head grimly at her love. Sometimes that woman took the scariest risks. Melosa smiled very lightly. She noticed Izzy's attention and inclined her head. The demoness nodded slightly in acknowledgement and leapt skillfully to her mount. Her expression was solemn. She didn't even blink at the way the fine stitches pulled. It didn't feel that bad.

Some of the gathered Tartarans murmured in astonishment at the bravery of the Amazon. Of course, the Amazon Queen's actions only confirmed what they had heard about the tribes, but still it had been an amazing bravery. Most Tartarans stayed a long way away from daggites because they were so notoriously dangerous. It would be something the plainsmen of Mylek's tribe remembered for a long time.

Marcus, who seemed to be fully recovered from his death, sat comfortably astride his steed. He held the reign to Xena's mount. Perdicus, still trying to grasp what happened to him, gazed at the small crowd of plainsmen with watchful eyes. He would have a lot to think about this trip.

Izzy examined the golden marker in her steed's ear. It was a loop, with an engraved image of a daggite dangling at the bottom. All of her groups steeds had such a marker. It identified the strigers as belonging to her "tribe." Even though Izzy had argued that these were Elysians, not Tartarans, Mylek had been insistent. If they flew the banner as they rode, which combined his tribes colors and a new set for hers, which would demonstrate that they were allied, it would act as a deterrent to any other tribes seeking to make a killing.

Izzy had finally given in, but not without making sure that the control of the "tribe" was out of her hand. She was the tour guide. She didn't do groups and wasn't interested in leadership. She left the decision of who should be in charge up to the humans. She would take them where ever they wanted to go, warn them of things that might endanger them, but they would function on their own. Mylek had rolled his eyes.

Stubborn stubborn woman. During his final visit with Xena he wished the warrior luck.

They could not believe the size of the town. It was huge. The ruddy stone walls that surrounded the town were massive. Powerfully built Tartarans guarded the perimeter, walking above them along the walls length without fear of falling. Xena thought they width was at least a good ten feet across. That is if the entrance tunnel was any indication. Izzy paid their way in, since they had yet to trade in the tawny colored Firzin they'd hunted.

That had been a sight, to watch the giant deer like creatures leap right over their heads in an effort to "escape" the daggite. . .who'd just been teasing. Oriena, upon Izzy's suggestion, had taken one down with a single shot to the head. They ended up with three, one each strapped to a striger's back.

The buildings were huge, varied and there were a multitude of colors ranging from a deep rusty purple to a earthy green color. The streets were wide and paved with deep brown brick. Tok, now collared and leashed, padded besides Izzy. For some reason the crowds gave them a lot of space. The strigers, who were still in good shape for the amount of travel they'd done, had been stabled. The "tribe" was now on foot. They wore the colors that Mylek had provided.

In an effort to bring about group cohesiveness (or so Salmoneus described it) he said they ought to call themselves something. Something memorable. No one had been able to come up with a suitable name though (mostly because everyone else thought it was a silly notion) and Izzy had been more than a little surly that morning. She rode ahead or walked ahead of them most of the time, ignoring the humans as best she could.

The demon had been right. The colors had acted as a deterrent, for the most part. A group of plainsmen (not his tribe) had joined and accompanied them a ways, trying to get a feel for the newly formed group. Izzy had ridden close then, and Tok hand paced protectively among the adventurers, nipping at the plainsmen's strigers when they got too close. When the plainsmen had tried to talk to Izzy as if she were the leader, she deferred to Melosa. Xena, like Izzy, had refused to be the one "in charge." The plainsmen had been surprised to meet a real Amazon. It got the group invited to stay the night, but Melosa had explained, very graciously to the horned blue woman that they had someone important they were searching for and she described Gabrielle.

That had resulted in a spate of good information about a certain blonde woman who "used to travel the lands." Apparently Gabrielle got around a lot. Or she did. It had been a very long time since the blue one's tribe had seen the wise one. Because of her, they'd only rarely had a time of howling. If they found her, would they bring her back to visit?

Melosa said they would try. The other tribe left on good terms and the adventurers had a lot to think about. Izzy had glowered and moved back up front. .way up front.


	13. Chapter 13

The Firzin were plenty big enough for procuring cash. Izzy fixed the trade, haggling till they had a fair price. It was the one moment it seemed like she was happy. They split the money from the kill among them, save for the amount which they used to procure their rooms in one of the more comfortable sized inns. The furniture was staggered in size since it was made for the mixed population with bigger tables and chairs for the demonic types and smaller for the humans. Of course, the beds were huge enough for everybody.

Now they walked the market place. It was a colorful noisy experience, with plenty of things to see and smell. Izzy cautioned them against buying any meat from a stall inhabited by a demon. Tok padded close to the demoness, partly because she kept it short leashed and partly because everything was unfamiliar. It wasn't really a town kind of creature.

On the surface it seemed like something one would see on earth, except, out of the corner of one's eye, a person might see a body being dragged behind an ally way or a person might see a beribboned stall that was made up of entirely of bones and skulls. Not all of the skulls were human. Xena found herself scanning the crowd watchfully, listening to the conversation of the group with a portion of her attention.

There were those who would lay with one for pay. Izzy cautioned against visiting with them, roughly grabbing and letting Salmoneus know that one often lacked a certain body part by the time it was all done. That had set the man a little pale. "What am I supposed to do?" he'd whispered at Izzy in frustration and a burst of honesty (which he'd been avoiding), "With the vibes you give off," she smirked knowingly, "my whole body aches with need." He pointed at his compatriots, most of whom were involved with looking at the contents of a weapons stall. "They at least have someone. All I've got is my hand and it ain't helping."

Izzy hadn't laughed. She was still in too pissy a mood to appreciate the humor of the situation. Besides, the desperation in his face was real. "I'll find someone safe for you," she snapped, "just stay away from them." She steered him away from the leering demons. Izzy handed Sal off to Xena with a grouchy, "Watch him!" Then she stalked away for a brief "chat" with those troublemakers.

Sal turned to Xena, his expression was perplexed, "What's her problem?"

"She's in heat."

*That* got their attention. There was a chorus of "What?" from the startled adventurers. Marcus and Perdicus looked at each other with expressions of. .. gee that explains everything. . .

"She's tumescent, on the rise, if the color's any indication." The stall master, carefully showed the gleaming knife to a now distracted Marcus. "They cycle every two weeks or so, unless something sets them off."

Xena asked a carefully intoned, "excuse me?"

The human salesman sighed and pointed with the knife, "You're her tribemates, you should surely know this by now. Look at her color. She's almost cherry red." He smiled softly, "Her tail is up, notice. I mean, they're always off the ground, but usually they swing more. Hers is twitchy but almost still. She's probably only just started, because she's not exuding the scent. Otherwise they'd be around her in droves. .It makes 'em fidgety, know what I mean. More fights break out. . They get all irritated for no reason. Unsociallike. She'll be surrounded be by some hangerons soon enough. I can tell. If you look in her eyes you there's gonna be a golden ring around the iris. The larger the ring, the closer she is." The stall master sniffed. "It's hard enough when they're off cycle. There's always this buzz around them, know what I mean."

Salmoneus groaned. "Oh yeah, we know." The salesman sighed, knowing his business was lost, "Who knows how many she's gonna set off. You should get her inside and off the street. Its bad for business. Though she is fighting it, so it might be okay." "Fighting?" Xena asked. "Oh yeah, she's out traveling with you, isn't she. That one would be holed up with a buck or doe" He laughed briefly, "Or a buck and a doe, depending, for a day or two otherwise." He grinned rakishly, "Not all the howling is made up of pain."

"She didn't look like that yesterday." Melosa said. "I remember."

He shrugged and put the now completely ignored knife down. He looked thoughtful, "Of course, she's probably just been set off her timing. That happens a lot It's this aura thing they've got going. You never know what's gonna affect them. It could have been a smell, or a word, or someone touching them just right at the wrong moment. Could have been anything. Sometimes fights will do it. Something like that. You would notice right away though. The color changes pretty quick."

Xena pursed her lips and inhaled slowly. She closed her eyes and realized that she'd noticed the skin color change, last night, after she'd finished the last of her stitching. She had thought Ga. .Izzy, best go with what she called herself, was just blushing, feeling embarrassed for being so snappish. At least that is what she'd apologized for. Gods.

Incredible as the situation was, possibly dangerous, it made Xena feel better. Izzy hadn't colored after the battle, not technically. It had been while *she* was touching the Tartaran. She had an effect on Izzy, whether the demon admitted it or not. She could use that.

"How do we keep her from. . ."scenting," Xena asked, though she thought she knew. In mating, the principle was always the same. She fingered a slim looking knife. It looked like the kind that could peel the skin away. . .slowly.

The salesman grinned. Maybe there would be a sale after all, "Oh that's easy. Just make sure she gets some, if you know what I mean."

Salmoneus grinned, despite himself, "Well if that's all it takes. I could. . ."

The salesman grimaced, "Very Bad Idea." He waved his hand carefully, "Don't get me wrong. Everyone's compatible here, usually, but in her state. .she's a bit far gone. Earlier maybe. You catch 'em early enough their up for anything. If you know what I mean." The guy winked and suddenly Xena was putting out some energy of her own. The salesman got back to what he was talking about "It's not that she couldn't its just. . .well. .they're mighty hard on ..(no pun intended) . ." He pointed toward's the man's crotch, "On those things. It could wipe you out." Salmoneus paled again. The salesmen pointed at Xena, then at the Amazons, "My mate and I." He smiled sexily, "when she's that far. . .we get an intermediary." He pointed in the direction that Izzy had taken. "Until she's been. .you know. . ." Now he pointed at Xena, Melosa and Oriena, "It'd be better for one of them to get her settled. Besides types like her. . ."the salesman continued.

"Besides types like me what?" Izzy was at the stall now, looking incredibly menacing. The prostitutes seemed to have disappeared. There was a streaky bloody hand print on her kilt. Tok was licking its chops. The salesman blanched.

"Heh," The salesman picked up a large dagger like object, "really go for a weapon like this." His expression turned amicable, "They were trying to find you a gift. . .uh. .for all you've done for . . ." He covered.

She growled down at him, making the human lean back, "I do not need a gift." Yep, there was the ring around her iris, not too large but. . .

"Right. No gift." He started packing up the knives, "What was I thinking. Sorry folks, nothing for sale here. Move along."

Izzy growled at Salmoneus, "There will be someone waiting at the inn for you. Human. Dark hair, pale skin, brown eyes. Give her this," She handed the man a golden necklace. "Enjoy." She looked at the rest of the group, "If you stay away from the guards and the meat pies you should be okay. Can you find your way without me?" The demoness looked antsy.

Melosa, ever practical and incredibly brave of heart, stepped forward. "YOU are NOT going to ABANDON us HERE!" The voice of authority rang through the marketplace and it seemed as if a veil of silence fell over the general area, though it hadn't. And here Xena had thought *she* was going to have to step in. The warrior folded her arms in abrupt good humor. She'd known these Amazons were good for something.

Izzy pulled back, towering over the Amazon and looked like she was going to burst forward with vocabulary of her own. She didn't get a chance. An Amazonian finger was poking her in the sternum. "You promised you would tell us if something would endanger us. WE had to find out from a COMPLETE stranger that you are in need and that YOU pose a danger to us. WE are going BACK to the INN. NOW."

Izzy started up. "I do NOT pose a danger to anyone," she began.

"Oh and those bucks and does who are gonna be sniffing at you, don't?"

Izzy opened her mouth. . .then. . .shut it. She looked grimly at Melosa. "I have been on Tartarus longer than you have. I can take care of myself. It would only take a night. I was planning on removing that danger by . . ."

"Removing yourself. . Yes. .that was obvious," Melosa completed, "But it is not acceptable." She moved her hand in a cutting motion, "We are too new here to be left alone just yet." Xena smirked. Well, this wasn't a tact she would have taken, but. . .whatever works. The Amazon's voice lowered, "We need you Izzy. I don't feel good about you going out there to do. . .whatever. I don't feel good about getting separated so soon and us ignorant of the ways here. Let's go to the Inn. Surely we can provide what you need. If nothing else Oriena and I. .. "

Not that they could tell, but Izzy was blushing, "No. No. Thank you. I don't. . .I don't do humans. I can handle it. I've got two hands. I can. . .," Her jaw clenched and gave away the lie, "wait."

Melosa gave the demoness a long long look, "We will see. Now," she spoke calmly, calmingly, as she oh so carefully grabbed Izzy by the arm, "Let's get to the Inn. We'll make the decisions there."


	14. Chapter 14

They almost made it to the Inn. The group was so close that Xena could smell the scent of the of the fireplace, the sweet wood smoke smell, that had reminded her earth. Reminded her. That was perhaps the greatest difference between Tartarus and Elysia. In Elysia one had to fight for one's memories. Here, you remembered all. . .All. .Good and Bad. Did Hades think bliss was forgetfulness?

Now *that* was a two edged sword. Xena wondered what would have happened, if Perdicus had remembered Gabrielle sooner? Would he have thought to go looking for her, to go to the Amazons? They might have started off earlier, might have. . .well one couldn't live by might haves and Perdicus, hadn't remembered. These changes she was seeing in him were recent. Xena began to see that Elysia, as it was now, wasn't as perfect as one might think.

No. .if one were to have it perfect, true. .one would need both. .the ability to remember. .fully and a kind of forgetfulness. Not the total blatheration of Elysia, but. .something. .something. Xena was about to really nail the concept for herself when two very large males placed themselves in the front of the group.

They weren't studs. That much was pretty obvious, even to the humans. Teeth were missing, one had a portion of his tail gone. Apparently neither of them had heard of baths. They smelled of rotted. . .something. Marcus suddenly realized that it was rotted . .them. . .There was a patch of something growing on the taller green one. It looked like fur, but Perdicus had the queasy feeling that it most definitely was not something that friendly. The red one adjusted his groin.

Xena rolled her eyes. For Zeus' sake. Of course. Gods, she hoped Gab. . Izzy . . .had some control over this. .Please Gods. .Artemis are you listening. .Let her have. .

"Well, hello there." The red one said, not quite waggling his nonexistent eyebrows. He sniffed the air and looked directly at Izzy. "So close," He looked her up and down, "and so good looking." He took a step forward, "How about you come with us and we'll show you a," now he leered, "good time."

Okay, that did it. It didn't matter. There was no way Xena was letting this creep even near her Ga . . .

The demoness stood forward, her body swaying suggestively. O Gods no! thought Xena. "Hi boys." Izzy's voice was so sultry it made the warrior wet. It was obvious what it did to the males.

The demoness' grin was toothy. Theirs were even broader. . .for about two seconds. Izzy suddenly growled, "I don't think So!" Then she leapt at the demons and when she made her move, so did Melosa. . .And Tok.

Several groans and bites later and the group were walking as if they'd never been interrupted. Perdicus, Marcus and Salmoneus had a sudden interest in the flora of Tartarus. "Ya think I got this sketch right guys?" Sal asked as they seemed to obliviously pass the demons.

Xena was smiling smugly and she toodled her fingers at the two males who now lay on the ground covering those obvious bits. She glanced at Melosa in appreciation and decided she loved Amazons. If she had a chance she would try to be more. . .sociable. . . during their ceremonies. Oriena paused a moment to give the red one a gratuitous kick and a, "Sorry, she's already taken care of." It issued a pained grunt in return. The blonde caught Xena's gaze and winked. She shrugged her shoulders, continued on and Xena grinned.

When she got a chance, Xena thought she would reward the daggite with something nice and juicy. Good Daggite, very good.

The Inn was a cozy place. It had a smooth wooden floor, which Tok's nails clicked against as it paced besides Izzy. The demoness unchained the creature and now it walked free. There were several individuals dining already, demon and human. Izzy took a deep inhalation and assured her compatriots that the meal was safe, if they were hungry.

She wasn't.

In fact, if they didn't mind she'd go up to her room now. The demoness looked intensely at Melosa, practically begging with her eyes. The Amazon kept her arms folded about her chest and looked like she was doing some major thinking. "Give me a second, Izzy. I want to talk to . . ."

There was a scrape of a chair against the floor and Xena turned to see a blue colored doe stalking towards them. Her silver hung low down her back and she had three horns, one on each side of her head, one rose pointedly off of her shoulder. Her face was pleasant enough. She wore a kilt similar to Izzy's, though it was decorated in a curling almost celtic like pattern. She wore a sword, but had left it at the table. She was clean. . .and she had manners.

She stopped in front of Izzy and Melosa. Apparently she'd been paying attention, for she addressed the Amazon first, after bowing. "Honored one, Sister," She glanced carefully at Izzy and offered a half bow. There was a bit of nervous backing from both, but Izzy didn't avoid her gaze. "I am Penho, of the Nation." An Amazon! Melosa's gaze quickly slid to her mate and then back to the creature in front of her, "I offer my. . .services, if you wish." More subtle movements.

There was silence and Xena thought for a moment that her heart had taken over her ears. She hadn't said anything to Melosa yet and she was beginning to appreciate that her strategy might have been a mistake. There was no way she could have planned for this. Damn Borias for not telling her about this possibility.

Melosa took a deep breath, "Honored Sister," she began. She had no idea what this one's rank might be. Please the gods she didn't offend. "I thank you for your kindness." There was a short nod. Melosa turned briefly and made a summoning motion with her hand towards Xena and the warrior stepped immediately forward. The blue eyed woman stared up into yellow eyes grimly. No need to attack. No need. . .

Penho regarded the dark haired woman calmly, though she sensed the covered hostility. Perhaps this had been a mistake on her part. She looked at Izzy carefully and could find no identifying marks on the Tartaran. There had been no claim made yet. Not entirely a mistake then.

Izzy watched them both through narrowed eyes. She turned to Melosa and spoke carefully, "This one would be acceptable to me. . for the evening."

There was a purr to her voice. Her nostrils flared. Izzy's gaze was narrowed ferally. Her breathing pattern changed. Yes. This one would do.

The Amazon spoke softly, "I told you Izzy, we are too new to be separated." She nodded at the woman who was standing in front of Penho, "Xena will take care of you." Damn Damn Damn. She hadn't had a chance to explain the decision. Gods she hoped the warrior would understand her choice. Damn.

Izzy was in Melosa's face instantly, "I told you I don't do . . ." There was fear in her eyes, real fear, though her body language said it was anger. Melosa could tell the difference. Izzy's compatriots could not.

But Melosa didn't back up. She moved forward instead, until their foreheads were almost touching. Her body language seemed just as angry, but her gaze was compassionate. She grabbed the demons neck and held it still. "I don't care what you do or do not do. Tonight, Xena will take care of you," she hissed through her teeth, "There will be other times for you to have your preferences. I am guarding my people do you understand?" She clenched her hand around Izzy's neck, "You do, don't you? A leader must guard her people." There was a sudden secret shared between them. Izzy let out a shuddering breath and closed her eyes. Melosa let her go.

She turned to Penho, her manner conciliatory, "Sister. . ."

Penho smiled briefly, "There is no need for explanation. I understand. It is sometimes thus." She bowed in Xena's direction and Izzy's. "I wish you all pleasure." Then she turned to Melosa, "Perhaps, we might speak? I would like. .to hear. .what brings the great Melosa," The Amazon Queen blinked, "to Tartarus." Melosa inclined her head in acknowledgment.

"Perhaps over dinner?"

Penho smiled, "That would be well."

Melosa took Xena aside, while Izzy went to stand despondently with Tok by the stairwell. The Amazon Queen took a breath, looking somewhat sheepish, "I am sorry for not warning you, for not. . ."

Xena spoke quickly. "I understand." She really did. Some decisions happened on the spur of the moment.

"Its just that I thought, if anyone could, it would. . and everyone else seems to be. .taken care of. . ." She pointed in Salmoneus' direction. A not too tall woman had just made his acquaintance and was wearing a lovely necklace. That wasn't even the Amazon's preference, but if Izzy said she was safe. . .Melosa sighed. .Gods she knew she was being hypocritical, but something kept telling her that this was how it should be. . .She would talk to Salmoneus.

"It's okay. I can handle it."

Melosa looked up, "You're sure?"

Xena looked in Izzy's morose direction once and then back at Melosa. She didn't grin. She let her body relax.

"I'm sure."


	15. Chapter 15

Izzy sat on the edge of the bed facing the window. There was nothing to look at, not really. The window was shuttered. There was a blue little plant that was struggling for life, but it was nothing she wanted to see. Izzy heard the sound of metal and leather slamming against the wall. She could hear the way Xena was peeling off her leathers, starting with the bracers on her wrists. She could smell the warrior's hostility.

Not that she didn't have a reason to be angry. Izzy, in a last ditch distancing effort, had said just before starting up the stairs, "Let's get this over with quick." She'd stomped gracelessly, savagely up the stairs. Tok, sensing its mistress' mood had, once in the room, found a far corner to curl up in and had watched Xena's revealing with far more appreciation than Izzy had shown.

It was never that quick, Izzy thought. It could take all night long, literally. There had been that time when it had taken almost four days. But that was partly because she'd selected a virgin lover. It had been her own fault. She looked idly at the basket on the counter by the plant. There was food, fuel. They would need it. Later. Izzy was never hungry at the start. Her body was too busy going through the changes.

Gods. She hoped Xena was up to it. She hoped she was up to it. Maybe they'd get it handled in one shot. She'd done that before too. Sometimes a quickie was all it took. It depended.

But she could feel the way her skin burned and craved. Her nipples were already hard points that throbbed with aching need. Her horns buzzed and she felt the tingle all the way down to her groin. As soon as Melosa had made her choice, she'd felt her eyes changing again.

Izzy had to be tough. She couldn't let her know. That would. .that would. .hurt too much.

So now she sat nakedly upon the bed, her fingers digging into the coverlet, her tail tapping lightly against the mattress' side, as she counted the number of slats in the shutter and listened to the last slide of leather thump against the wall. She closed her eyes and heard the warrior's soft pace. She looked up. The bracer slapped noisily against her chest and fell to the ground. Izzy hadn't expected that. "Am I so Horrible for you to look at?" Her blue eyes sparkled wetly. Gods she was near tears. The warrior leaned close, "Well, Am I?" Xena's teeth showed, ferocious and primal and Izzy remembered that this one was wild too. . .and now she was hurt. . .

Izzy couldn't do it. She couldn't stay cold. She closed her green and gold encircled eyes for the briefest moment and felt the warmth of Xena pull away. It was a terrible loss.

"That's not. . .it's not." She looked up and quickly down and to the side. The coverlet was green and red entwined, blood and earth, Elysia and Tartarus. "Xena," she whispered, not really at hearing level. She felt the warrior pause and step closer. Izzy lifted her head and looked bravely at that heroic face, "You're so beautiful you make heart ache." Izzy reached with her long arm and cupped the warrior's face in her red hand. She lightly stroked the surface of the warrior's face with her pointed thumb. "So," A slow hot tear slid down demoness' face. Gods she wanted her, loved her, "incredibly beautiful."

The warrior took the hand in hers and gently pulled it away, without letting go. She stepped so close Izzy could hear the woman's heart beat. The demoness could smell the residue of leather and sweat. Their faces were inches apart and then closer. Izzy closed her eyes. She'd forgotten how soft Xena's lips were, how tender her kisses. Izzy couldn't help the primitive sound, the almost whimper, that came from her throat.

Xena pushed the red woman further back upon the bed until their bodies were fully pressed together. Xena let go of Izzy's hand and rested her arms by the demon's head. They kissed, only kissed, for long breathless moments. Izzy could feel the points of Xena's nipples against her collarbone and the sliding wetness of her own need. It made her growl with desire.

Izzy's long hands moved of their own volition. They embraced the warrior, fully, and then slid down her sensitive back in roaming caress that sent shivers down Xena's spine. She explored, with a fine touch, the way the warrior's body was formed. There was so much to learn again. She brought her legs up, letting her feet slide along Xena's thighs and calves seductively. She wanted to touch every part of the warrior. Every part.

Their lips finally separated wetly. Xena groaned and kissed down the side of Izzy's jaw and neck. Izzy opened her eyes in surprise at the warrior's first bite. Then she moaned helplessly. There was no going back. The demoness' eyes had changed and were now entirely gold.

Xena wasn't really sure what she was smelling, she only knew that she wanted more of the sweet almost flowery scent and that is seemed to exude from horned one's skin. She was officially past thinking and her effort to keep the names straight left her as she slid down her lover's body, licking, tasting, and biting lightly. She knew who this one was, and she was claiming her. The ruddy woman was making a sound that seemed like a cross between a purr, a growl, and moan and it upped a decibel when Xena began a wet and prolonged examination of flushed breasts.

She was already chanting the warrior's name, and Xena had not even touched her center. There were scrape marks along the warrior's back, but they were forgotten and Izzy was at the point where the coverlet was bunched in the demoness' fists. Gods, Xena felt so good. She felt so good. She smelled so good. She tasted so good. Izzy growled in lust. She looked so good. The demoness' skin sucked up the contact and craved more. Her legs lifted, wrapped briefly around the warrior, so she could rub her fire colored curls against the woman. Then she let her go with a voluptuous snarl and her feet rested on the edge of the bed, her knees spread wide open.

There were so many things that tipped the demoness over the orgasmic edge that first time.

There was the way Xena looked at her, gazing at her hotly as nimble fingers delightfully, pleasurably, tortured a fully aroused clitoris. It was amazing how it seemed that the warrior put her whole body into the motion. Her voice alone sent fiery uncontrollable shivers all along the Izzy's body. The warrior's touch did more and Izzy poured for her.

There was the way the warrior climbed up her body and rubbed and bucked against the demoness, spreading their wetness together, teasing her desire with crisp dark curls. The warrior even stopped at one point to glide her humidity along Izzy's thigh over and over again until the demoness' couldn't stand it any longer and had reached to pull her up. It destroyed the demoness' notion that this might be a one sided response. Gods, Xena had jumped away with a wild laugh and then crawled back along Izzy's body, letting her breasts make their own swaying trail along the red woman's abdomen. Then she seduced the demoness into another set of passionate kisses that made her horns move past tingling nigh unto painfully aroused. Xena had no idea about that erogenous zone or she would have taken advantage of it and Izzy would have been over the edge at that moment.

There was the way Xena cried out in surprise when the crimson woman's tail wrapped around her muscular thigh. Izzy had grinned, savoring the shock, but only long enough to rub against the warrior's slick nub with the not so dangerous point, teasing her for good while, flicking until Izzy heard those huffy little moans that she loved so much. Then the demoness let the flat of her "arrow" fold around her tail until the sharp edges were hidden and created a surface that was worth grinding into. She held firm, until Xena was rocking against her wetly and growling her own noises. Then Izzy had to bring her hand down and feel with her fingertips, spreading Xena's lips skillfully so she could play and circle. She'd pressed against the warrior's hollow, waiting, but not long, because Xena pushed herself onto the prehensile tail before Izzy could make another move.

Izzy was half sitting up, so she could control where her hand went. Xena was accepting the horned one's thrusts, practically pulling her in. She demanded more, scraping her fingernails along the demoness skin, drawing a bit of blood. Neither of them realized it. Then, just when Izzy thought the warrior was going to sing for her, Xena had stopped and had wagged her finger at the demoness like she was a naughty child. It had been a delicious moment and she'd cried out "No" when Xena had started to remove herself. They'd arrived at a compromise. Izzy removed her hand, licking her fingers slowly to get all the juice. The growling purr was now constantly there, and it changed when she breathed or tried to talk. She snarled her pleasure and Xena had returned the sound almost in kind.

Then there was the way she'd formed a fist, asking, "do you want this?" Xena had laughed, not mockingly, but teasingly, at the practically barked out demand and waited until the order became begging. Then with a grin she'd entered, slowly at first, then more decisively. With Izzy's own deliberate push, the warrior delivered powerful driving thrusts that the demon met with almost but not quite at the edge screaming passion.

Finally, when Izzy was so close to the edge that Xena could feel the shakes begin, the warrior shouted out her own release, stilling, clenching wetly around the tail and holding the red one prisoner. She spiraled the demoness' original name into the evening's air like a loving loop that captured, branded and reclaimed a lost soul. "GABRIELLE!!!"


	16. Chapter 16

She examined her reflection, twisting her ruddy body so she could check all the angles. She brought her hands up to her chest, tracing the swirled lines that seemed to erupt from between her breast. She growled low in her throat, turning slowly. "You did that on purpose." It was a cold accusation, angrily tossed in the warrior's direction. Xena felt a chill roll down her spine and settle like a lump in her stomach, however, powerful woman refused to show fear and remained stoically silent. She kept her feet spaced apart and her body relaxed.

Gabrielle's growl deepened. "You marked me!" The demoness' nostrils flared, "I've lived one hundred and seventy three years! and no one. . .NO ONE has ever . . .ever marked me." Xena's eyebrows raised despite herself. One hundred seventy three? One HUNDRED seventy three?!!! The warriors heart skipped a beat. O Gods could this have been a mistake?

The demoness pointed a long finger at Xena and it shook unsteadily, "You!" She stepped menacingly forward, "You!! are here two days." Her fingers formed a "v," then she pointed at the olive skinned woman with them, "TWO DAYS!" she roared. It was a ferocious noise. Tok whimpered and tried to crawl under the bed. Her back claws dug into the floor. Only her front half made it under. Her tail curled around feet. The daggite shivered and kept very quiet.

Gabrielle pulled back abruptly, brought both hands up, pulled at her breasts and looked down at the dark, almost black marks on the center of her chest. The demoness huffed out a breath from her nose. Xena swore she saw sparks and she was right. Gabrielle lifted her face, her eyes, still golden with the mating impulse had also taken on a red glow.

That was her only warning.

Her shoulders and hips instantly ached from the impact against the wall. Her head snapped back painfully, but not in a damaging way. Oh good, Izzy wasn't going to kill her.

Yet.

The demoness trapped Xena's wrists so they were held up, as if in surrender. Her palms were feverish against the warrior's skin. Where their bodies touched it was so hot it almost burned. They were painfully still against each other. Xena looked up bravely and said the only thing she could think of, "One Hundred and seventy Three years??!!!"

The demoness' eyelids fluttered. Then, starting somewhere in the middle of her belly, the laugh came out. She had to let go of Xena's hands she was laughing so hard. Her hands fell to Xena's side, landing on the long woman's hips. Her head rested itself in the crook of Xena's neck. The warrior's arms came down, landing softly on the the red woman's back.

The warrior found herself picked up abruptly and hugged sharply, but not painfully. Then she was set down again. Xena found her balance by leaning against the wall and placing her hands flat against its surface.

Izzy spoke softly. "You didn't know, did you." The demoness touched Xena's face gently. Her golden eyes were soft, "Tartarus has strange. . .time zones. . .in some places. I . .fell into one." The demoness smiled limply, "I'm older than you now, Xena." The warrior didn't say anything.

"Did you know about the marking?" Xena shook her head slowly. Izzy looked ashamed and sighed. "I. . .I am very sorry. I thought. . .I thought Mylek put you up to it. I was so sure he. . ."

The warrior found her voice, "Put me up to what?" she asked in confusion.

"Xena," oh gods, how to explain this, "you used my. . ." The demoness' face took on many expressions at once before settling on the agonizing, I'm trying to explain something and I don't think it's very well, expression. "You used my original name, during the time of mating, at one of the high points. It was like. . ." she pulled back and started pacing. Her hands moved expressively, "It was like. . ." Gods, Gabrielle, spit it out, "Claiming a bit of my soul as yours." The demoness stopped her pacing and stared at Xena, "Only mates do that here. .or people who think it controls a body. .it doesn't, but they try it anyway. .I mean it does, but not that way. You have. .I mean you had it before, but now you really have a piece. ." The demoness dropped her eyes to her chest and then looked back at the warrior, "of my heart."

Xena blinked and pushed herself away from the wall. Might as well start . ."Mylek didn't. I didn't see any on.."

Gabrielle giggled, "He has 'em around his. . thing." The demoness made a circle with her fingers, "Jilith said, when they exchanged names, the three rings appeared almost instantly. They didn't realize until he slid out of course, but still . . ."

"Gabrielle." Xena's voice was soft.

"and she got a set of little boxes on her. . ."

"Gabrielle."

". . ."

All that time. All that time and she never told anyone who she was. . ."You waited for me didn't you?" She couldn't be at the portal so she waited the only way she could. She'd known Xena would come after her. Gabrielle had known.

"I had a lot of lovers, Xena. I couldn't. .I mean there was no way. .I. . " Gabrielle found that it was her being backed up against the wall this time. Xena smirked. Surely the demoness' knew better.

"mmhmm," Xena's body pressed against hers again and she trapped Gabrielle between her arms. "Yes, lovers. I see that. mmhmm." She smiled wickedly, knowingly. "I've had lovers. Or didn't you notice. . ." There was a moment of hot bliss as they held still against each other, savoring the warmth of being near one another.

"Xena?"

"hmm?"

"How do you do it? How do you figure these things out so quickly?" For an instant Xena thought she saw Gabrielle's original face. Well, one thing at a time.

The warrior grinned and said, "I think really really hard, then I guess."

The demoness smiled, then looked startled, "Uhm. .Xena. .I've got to. . .we've ... "

Xena caught the glow in Gabrielle's eyes and knew. She smiled lustfully. Too bad the bed was so far away. She would just have to take her mate here.

Tok backed out carefully once it heard the first moan and quietly slunk around the bed to examine the source of the noise. The daggite cocked her head curiously and tried to determine why the fighting one's mouth was located where it was. It came to the conclusion that she was grooming the Mistress. She could smell the scent of mating in the air. Well, maybe not grooming.

Tok waggled it's head then stretched. They would be here awhile. The daggite went back to her corner and settled her head in her paws.


	17. Chapter 17

Xena awakened to the familiar scent of her bard mixed with the now familiar mating odor. The scent was still fresh, alluring. . .arousing. She was instantly wet again. Gabrielle crouched over her on all fours and stared ferally at the warrior. Something wild had taken over and Xena hadn't been even sure that her Gabrielle was in there.

Then the demoness had smiled beatifically and had asked. . .had asked if it would be okay for her to make love to Xena again. Tok had taken a moment to stare over the edge of the bed, resting it's face on the thoroughly scrunched covers. It had whuffled, capturing the warrior's attention for a moment. She thought for a moment that the daggite nodded encouragingly at her.

Oh what the hey. . .

She'd said yes. She had the stamina for it. Right?

So why did her muscles feel so rubbery right now? Well, that last one had been somewhat aerobic, hadn't it. Gods, Gabrielle. .Izzy. .(what should I call her now?). . was so flexible. (Think about it later) Xena grinned, surrendered to the moment, and let her lover do the work this time.

The demoness' long, long red tongue swirled teasingly around Xena's aching nipple. She used it to grasp the point of Xena's breast and pulled. That had been a surprise. The horned woman had grinned wickedly at her, then replaced her tongue with her hand and started crawling backwards, licking and nipping her way down.

The Tartaran's hot breath covered the warrior's skin, with each purring feral growl. Xena felt the press of the tail as it wrapped around her calf and caressed her foot. Her body, tired though it was, arched up responsively, pleadingly. There was a soft rolling chuckle. It was so sweet that Xena had to close her eyes in pleasure.

She opened them as soon as she felt the demoness' tonguing the slick line of her sex. Then she opened them even wider as the red one slipped her tongue into Xena. . .*All* the way into Xena. The Tartaran grinned (as best she could considering) and began tasting Xena in such a way that the warrior could not mistake what was happening. Xena felt the tickle and the flexing of the Tartaran's prehensile muscle so deeply that she cried out. She lifted her hips. ..

and they were off. . .Izzy/Gabrielle didn't really work that hard, but Xena could not keep herself still and worked herself into a sweat. All the Tartaran did was lap, and taste, and lick, and swirl with that long long talented tongue. . . and groan and sigh her lusty growls. . . as Xena ground herself into the demoness' face with a passion.

The warrior practically dug holes in the bed with her hands clenched incredibly tight in the mattress' surface. (Fortunately it was a resilient mattress). The Tartaran was supporting her hips now, so the full burden wasn't on Xena's powerful flexing thighs. The demoness' eyes were closed so she could enjoy the scent and feel and taste of her lover fully and she pressed her mouth closer, letting part of her tongue rub Xena's hub, even as the rest of it delved over and deeper again into the warrior's flowing core.

There came an unavoidable point where Xena screamed out in a looping orgasm that seemed to flow from head to toe and back again. . .several times.

When the warrior felt able to move again, she lifted her shaky body, leaned over to where her lover's face still hovered and grabbed the demoness firmly by the horn. She saw the eyes widen, but thought it only related to her expression. "Next time," Xena huffed out, "warn me." She let go and lay back as she tried to catch her breath. The Tartaran whimpered, bit her lower lip, and tried to stop the flow that started between her legs.

A rumbling noise abruptly filled the room.

The demoness looked down at her flat red stomach in astonishment. Then she looked at Xena.

Xena sat up, a tiny bit, supporting herself with her elbows and forearms. She gave the demoness such a look. Then Xena shook her head, grinned a smile of incredible happiness and burst out laughing.


	18. Chapter 18

Penho sat idly by the window, sipping her berdic tea. Her blue legs were crossed comfortably. The kilt was riding a little high on her thigh, but she didn't mind. No one was paying her much attention. That's why she liked this Inn. It was run by a matched pair, human and non. The food was good, the atmosphere sweet (because of the human wife's attention to detail) and the occupants civilized.

Izzy's hair was still wet when she slid into the chair on the opposite end of the table. She waved her hand to the waiter. "The usual!" The man nodded and made his way to the back. Izzy stretched languidly, then reached for the public papyrus. She scanned the opening page. She shook her head and tisked. "That boy is getting to be so much trouble."

The silver haired demoness took another sip, then grinned. "You can handle him Izzy."

"I don't want to handle him. I don't even want to be near him. I'd just kill him and that would be a waste of my time." The serving man arrived and set down a steaming plate and a couple of mugs. Izzy set the papyrus aside. She took a deep sniff, then grinned, "Ah. That smells marvelous. Thank you!" The waiter bowed, then moved on.

Penho sniffed lightly, "I still say you'll be dealing with him sooner or later. You might as well make it sooner." She nodded at Izzy, "Look at you. She got you already?"

Izzy shook her head, "Gods," she started as she lifted her first forkful, "I can't believe she even wants to touch me." Then she grinned, "I mean, aside from the normal impulse they get." Penho returned the smirk in knowing kind.

The blue demoness smiled. "Well, trust me, you're very touchable," she soothed. They grinned at each other.

Izzy pointed her fork at Penho, "You *know* what I mean." The blue Tartaran nodded, a little sadly. The red two horned demoness chewed lightly and swallowed while Penho looked on sympathetically, "She had no idea about it. Just happened. She's so smart Pen."

The blue Tartaran nodded, "So I've heard. She was, you know, the most successful Warlord of her time."

"I know. I know. But. . .Two days. Gods. How much did that come to?"

"150 Rets."

"Well, it's not like I don't have it to spend." Izzy stabbed at her food indifferently.

Penho grinned, "And such a good use of money, too. Fills my pocket right up." Penho patted her hip lightly with her free hand. She took another sip. "I talked to Melosa last night. She's very interesting."

"Yes, she is. Good woman." Izzy nodded as she quietly consumed another bite of dumbunny and eggs.

"You can see why she was Queen. .and is your "tribe" leader. How do you get involved in these things Iz?" Izzy rolled her eyes and took another bite. It was really good. Penho set the cup down and waved the server over. "I'd like some more please." The silver haired demoness settled herself more comfortably, "so, what are you going to do with them? I mean, now that she knows."

"It doesn't change anything Pen." The red demoness carefully wiped her lips with her cloth napkin, "They are still Elysians. That is still where they belong. I'm going to take them on their damn tour and then watch as their tokens disappear."

"Uh huh." Pen pointed rudely at Izzy with her tail, "You're just scared that she might actually accept you as you are. Besides, mates, they should stay. . .close."

"You're not helping Pen. I'm trying to be tough here."

"I know. Maybe you should try being honest."

Izzy looked up abruptly, "I have been honest." She set her fork down carefully, "I just. . .haven't told them. . everything."

Pen leaned forward, "I bet you haven't even told her about the horns yet, have you?"

Izzy looked startled. Then she shook her head, "Gods, am I so transparent?"

"Normally," Penho began, "No. You're more subtle than a fierzard. But we are talking your mate here. The person you went all Nine Frizzin' levels for. .TWICE." Izzy quirked her lips and Penho smiled softly. "It wouldn't hurt you to show your original face."

Izzy's mouth gaped, "And what good would that do? I'm not her anymore. I'm. . I'm" She picked up the first mug and waved it, "Me. Now." She set the mug down with a thump, "I like what I've become. I mean, it's not what I expected, but I've come to terms."

"Yes, but are they good terms? You need," The waiter filled Penho's cup, courteously ignoring the conversation, "balance." Penho brought her steaming cup to her lips and drank lightly, "You are one of the wise ones, Izzy, but, you can tell everyone accept the past, yet not accept your own. How can you do that?

Izzy picked her mug up, "I accept my past." She took a long drink of the cool sweet juice, "I just don't live there."

"Hmmph. There's a difference between living there and letting yourself visit once in awhile. Who knows, maybe you'll find something of worth out of it."

"Pen," Izzy began.

The blue Tartaran abruptly switched the subject, "So, tell me, how was she?" The Tataran grinned wickedly.

It was a good thing Izzy had swallowed her drink, "Gods Pen." Izzy grinned, then raised her hands and spread her fingers.

"EIGHT?!"

"Pen!!! Could you BE any louder?"

Pen leaned in to whisper, "eight?!" She sat back and shook her head in disbelief, "Gods," The demoness lifted her cup to her lips, then set it back down without drinking, "For a human that's. .that's. ." The demoness raised her fine silver eyebrows, "pretty damn remarkable. Eight. Geez I know some Tartarans who can't do that. How is she?"

"Very tired."

Pen laughed lightly, "I bet." She picked up her cup again, and waved it around, "so you gonna be in town awhile? You've still got a little gold left around your eyes."

"Oh. .it depends. Xena.. She'll probably be up and ready to go in a few hours. There's still plenty of travel time. We haven't really talked about where to go. I was, after all, the object of their search. Things are pretty open now. If they want to stay in town, see the sights, maybe take in one of Y'vetch's plays, I'll swing the cost and let them hang around."

Penho grinned, "First you can't wait to get rid of them, now you let them hang around."

Izzy smirked and took another swig from her mug, finishing the drink off, "Whatever. You know what I mean."

Pen set her cup down, "Melosa is trying to find her sister." Izzy raised her eyebrows, "You could do that for a bit, tour them through the levels visiting Amazon tribes. The gal's bound to be somewhere."

Izzy grinned, "Wouldn't happen to be you, would it?"

Penho looked startled then grinned, "Hell no. Boy, if it was, I'd admit in a heartbeat. That Melosa, She's tougher than my own sister. . .and better too. I'd take her down to fifth and have her beat up on Wetzel so fast. . "

Izzy laughed, "Gods, she may do that anyway. I guess I'll have to warn them about "Queen" Wetzel when we get down there."

"Ah, so. You're taking my advice?"

Izzy smiled lightly and started on her second mug. She waved the server over, "Seconds please." Her first plate was quietly, efficiently taken away, "Penho, when haven't I taken your advice?"

"Would you like me to start with the first year?"


	19. Chapter 19

Salmoneus looked Unhappy when he descended the stairs into the dining room. He looked, in fact, positively grouchy. Izzy looked at Oriena, who was tucking into her breakfast with real enthusiasm. Penho smiled idly at the humor in the situation. "What's with him?" Izzy asked the blonde Amazon, "Didn't. . ."

Oriena paused in her eating to grab the mug, take a swig, and swallow. She wiped her lips casually with the back of her hand. Then she looked seriously at Izzy, "Melosa didn't want to be a hypocrite."

The puzzled look on Izzy's face was unmistakable, "What?" Then she blinked and set her mug down abruptly. The juice sloshed on the smooth wooden surface, "Oh By 'Temis' Tits." Oriena looked startled. Izzy ignored her and cast another sidelong glance in Salmoneus' direction, watching as his expression turned grimmer with each step. "I can see he took it real well."

Melosa's lover smiled mirthlessly, "Well, considering the circumstances, he. . ."

The gold chain rattled on the wood surface as it slid in front of Izzy's empty plate. Salmoneus, who, not only looked grumpy, but also looked like he had a headache of immense proportions, groused out, "Here! Looks like I didn't need it after all." His teeth were clenched. Then, quite manfully, he turned away and stalked off to the other side of the inn's restaurant.

Penho raised her silver eyebrows, and lightly tapped on the table with her finger. "Oh. He has it bad, doesn't he?" She licked her teeth lightly.

Izzy picked up the chain and let it dangle in the air a bit, "Some get that way." She didn't smile, "I'm going to have to talk to Melosa about that. It's not . . .," she smiled an evilly toothy smile, "kind to make one like him suffer when they're that bad off." She folded the gold into her hand, then brought it to her hip. Oriena didn't see where she put it.

Izzy smiled politely, "If you'll excuse me," and started to move away from the table.

"Oh let me," said the blue demon, "You've been at it all night, I'm sure you don't need more."

Izzy smiled slightly, "I don't think he's gonna make it through the day. It'll be something nice and quick."

"Then *I'll* make it nice and quick." Penho laughed, then stood up quickly. "Besides, you've got to save your strength. I hear you've got a lover that can wear you out." Izzy looked up, smirked and blushed enough that her friend could see the change in color. Penho adjusted her kilt and moved her tail a bit, "You just leave him to me. I'll have him fixed up in a jiffy." She practically purred that last bit out.

"What about Melosa?" Izzy inquired, but she was already settling back into her chair. She'd gained a healthy respect for the Amazon Queen. She'd just have to tell the tribe leader it was an emergency, which was true enough. These things could get mighty ugly very quickly. If Sal was already experiencing the headache. . .well.

Penho grinned and brought her fingers to her chest, "Why, I'm practically family now, what with all the talking we did last night" She looked wounded when Izzy snorted. "No, really, we got along great."

"Yeah, well, if she told Salmoneus, "No," and he stopped. . ."Izzy said meaningfully. Then she shook her head ruefully and pointed at the trihorned Tartaran, "She's gonna kick your blue tail my friend." Izzy hid the worry she was feeling with the tease. They were gonna have to find someone for Sal on a more permanent basis, at least for as long as he was going be here. She glanced with concern over at the bearded man. He was looking somewhat grey. Yep, she'd have to talk with Melosa. That man did not look good, "Better go get him Pen. I don't want him traveling like that."

"Aw, you'll work it out. You always do," Penho reassured her friend. The blue Tartaran narrowed her eyes and dropped her voice, "Besides, we can always say he couldn't resist a more. . .powerful force." For a moment she exuded pure, stunning sexuality.

"Pen," Izzy cautioned as she picked up her mug. She smiled slightly at Oriena, who had started coughing at the beginning of the conversation and had been unable to quit, "Be Gentle."

"*I* am always gentle with the humans. Unlike some I could mention,"

"Hey!"

"Not you."

"Oh. . ." Izzy took a sip, then swallowed abruptly, "Oh, and you'd better not waste time." She grinned evilly up at her friend, "I'd hate for Melosa to catch you out. I hear she's a great hide tanner."

The trihorned demoness stuck out a blue tongue, "You just watch me." Her tail swayed with her hips.

"ooh, an invite?" Izzy waggled her eyebrows and leaned forward seductively.

"You have Dirty mind." Izzy quirked her lips and angled her tail naughtily. Penho, made her own rude motion, "But, you know I love it." The blue woman set a tip down on the table. Izzy raised her brows at the amount and Penho shrugged, "He was cute." Izzy laughed and nodded.

They grinned at each other in mutual understanding. The blue Tartaran started making her way past the Amazon. Oriena was in the last stages of clearing her throat. Penho, however, was gone and standing in front of Salmoneus before she could say anything. The man turned to look at Izzy and the red demoness waved him on encouragingly. He looked up, and up, at Penho, who now extended her hand. Then he was led silently upstairs.

Oriena started to stand up, her hand at her knife, but the Izzy grabbed her arm roughly, "Sit down." The command in the demoness' voice, combined with a fine row of sharp teeth, was all it took, The blonde sat down abruptly. Izzy smiled unreassuringly at the Amazon, "Don't worry," said the Tartaran, "He'll be fine." Then she nodded at the Amazon's plate, "Are you going to finish that?"


	20. Chapter 20

Salmoneus' grin was infectious. He was a changed man. The headache (among other things) was gone gone gone and he felt a kind of euphoria throughout his whole body. It made him talkative again, bubbly. Marcus and Perdicus, when they thought Penho wasn't listening pressed for details, but Salmoneus was a gentleman and refused to say much, except that it was better than he ever imagined and Gods, did he feel great.

Penho half listened to their hushed conversation (they sat at another table) with an amused expression on her face. It *had* been nice. The purr was still in her voice, though not as deep as it had been. Salmoneus, despite his urgent need, was a delightfully attentive lover. She liked it when they were like that.

Melosa ate quietly on the opposite side of her table. They had it worked out, or at least, Izzy had, just as Penho had expected, managed to explain the reality of things to Melosa. The Amazon Queen had been gracious and now she looked thoughtful. Penho didn't bother to offer her services. The Queen would ask if she had a mind to.

Oriena sat besides her mate, with one arm draped along the back of Melosa's chair. She looked much less distressed than earlier. After hearing Izzy's explanation of the fate of persons in Salmoneus' condition she had been thoroughly understanding, if a little queasy. It was an ugly way to die, and as Izzy said, a true waste of tokens (since it was so easy to remedy). She did point out however, for someone who'd supposedly been told he wouldn't have to deal with pain, Sal was suffering a lot.

Izzy didn't know what to say to that, but it was an accurate, if frightening, observation. It made her wonder just how good Hades' promises were in Tartarus. That added another chunk of worry to her already weighted shoulders. Then again, maybe all he meant was that Salmoneus would feel the pain of a mortal wound. IF that was the case, anything else would be fair game. Gods. She was hating this tour idea more and more.

It was her scent that alerted Izzy to Xena's presence. The lovely red Tartaran was so hooked to the way the warrior smelled that she would have known her lover in the middle of a herd of stinkrats. The demoness looked up. Her expression was as even and unrevealing as Xena's.

It would have been easier if she could separate her heart from this, Izzy thought. She sighed to herself as she watched Xena regally descend the stairs. Any one else, it would have just been sex. She could have been as distant as she wanted to be, needed to be. The warrior moved as naturally as ever, seemingly unaffected by the taxing acts of love they'd performed. Izzy had tried to be gentle, had mostly been gentle. Their hearts and bodies had taken them other places though.

No doubt, if Izzy pretended it was nothing more than a nice interlude, Xena would operate around that. Her face would become a stoic mask and Izzy would ignore the subtle wound in her blue blue gaze. Even with the marking, she could go to a Shaman, have it removed. But, that would mean losing the heart that she'd given away. The Tartaran, however, could not do that. Even at her worst, she never could. . .she never could. . . surrender what she felt for Xena. She loved her, despite the distances between them.

Izzy stood up and waited. If Xena had arrived under her own capacity, she would certainly not want the embarrassment of a solicitous lover at the stairs. The warrior carried herself well and strode with the confidence of one deserving respect. Penho's good humored gaze changed, altering subtly from amazement at Xena's composure (usually the humans were in a state more like Salmoneus') to one of stunned, awed realization.

Xena had the composure of a long term mate. It wasn't that the long termers. .the true mates. . were immune to the euphoria, it was just it became part of them. There was a sense of potency within their walk. It was beyond sexual, but inclusive of that power. It was *their* mark. No doubt, the color of her eyes had deepened. There would be other signs. Penho could have smacked her forehead. Duh! Endurance would be one of those signs. There might even be. . .

The warrior arrived and Izzy moved from the table. There was an electric moment as they gazed at each other. Neither of them were quite sure what would happen next. They greeted each other carefully.

"Xena." Izzy's voice was gentle. Her gaze softened receptively. She made a motion inviting her lover to the table.

"Izacon." Izzy barely managed to hide her shock at the use of her full name. She made a mental note to ask when Xena found that one out. She hadn't been trying to hide it, but she was fairly sure she'd not mentioned it.

Well.

At least Xena had not said her first name in public, as they had agreed. It hadn't been a hard win, but it was gratifying to see that her lover understood. The first name was for private moments only. Or.. .and Izzy grimaced in memory at her stutter. . .if she should choose to take on the first form. It had been hard for her to even say it. It had been even harder to tell the warrior that she never intended to take that form again, but she didn't want the notion to hang between them, or a false hope.

She'd expected Xena to ask her why, at least, but she hadn't. The warrior had simply gazed at the demoness, and spread the sweaty fire colored bangs along the Izzy's forehead. Then she'd kissed the Tartaran until Izzy forgot what they were talking about.

Xena nodded to her fellow adventurers and to Penho, then sat herself down across from Oriena. Izzy summoned the waiter. The green eyed Tartaran watched as Oriena subtly (though really not so subtly) pushed a half full mug over to Xena's side. The demoness smirked, and took the hint. She sat down by her lover. Then she felt a warm hand slide onto her thigh and squeeze. She looked over Xena, then at Melosa and let her hand drop lightly down to cover the warrior's.

Penho grinned. Things would work out. Then she spoke up. "So, Melosa. Izzy tells me you've got no plans." The Amazon Queen raised her eyebrows, and glanced at Izzy. The red demoness shrugged in disclaimer. Penho just said things like that sometimes. The proud Amazon smiled lightly and sat back to listen as the blue Tartaran continued, "How would you feel about visiting my village?" The demoness grinned, "I promise we won't eat you." Then her grinned changed, "Well," she paused for effect, "Not that way at least."

Izzy grinned and shook her head at her friend, picked up the mug in her free hand, and let the other one curl into her lover's firm grip. "Now this," she thought, "was going to get interesting."


	21. Chapter 21

HelsMouth was huge. It was a natural mountainous rock formation that towered into the sky, forming a wide, wide ring of dark stone the color of blood. It glistened wetly in the light, but as one passed through, the sensation of looking at spilled blood, changed to a sensation of looking at cold cracked dried blood. It was, for those not used to it, an icky feeling that made even Xena shiver. That feeling was acerbated by the length of the tunnel which seemed to go on forever. The only redeeming thing was that one could see the end's warm light ahead and if one looked back, one could see the entrance too. In between, one rode very cautiously in the cavernous dark.

There were creatures who lived in places like HelsMouth, Izzy said, and they were definitely not dumbunnies. Not that they should have to worry, HelsMouth was a popular passageway for merchants and was kept pretty clear, by the Hels' residents, of the worst predators who had been attracted by the murky cool. There were some who lived in its deepest recesses protected by the cave and its dark. There were various reasons they lived in Helsmouth. Not all Tararans, once changed, could deal with the light of the world's sun. Not all Tartarans walked on two feet or even had eyes. Some folks just liked Helsmouth as a community.

Izzy's discussion of HelsMouth was somewhat soothing to those who could only see by the flickering light of the torches. The comfort, however, did not run deep for the Elysians. Penho, who rode guard in the back, kept her own counsel, but she was also affected by the cavern, though not for the same reasons as the humans. It was just that she found the place entirely too symbolic. The only one who seemed unaffected by HelsMouth was Izzy, but then again, she'd been through this passageway so many times, it was more like an old friend than anything scary. Besides, she'd learned long ago to appreciate its beauty and its denizens.

Perdicus, who was learning not to ride too close to Marcus, yet still be by the man, realized that he was truly not liking the chittering noises that he heard in the depth of the passageway. He swore he could hear things being. . .gnawed on and the idea of what it might be twisted in his stomach. Still, he kept up a brave face, mostly for his. . .friends.

They'd never said anything to him. Not once. He'd expected Xena to at least say something, but there was nothing. His greatest shame and secret had been revealed and. . .well, Melosa had said something along the lines of, "If you ever need to talk about it." Apparently they judged him less harshly than he did.

He wondered if it were true, what Hades said, if the only reason he'd made it to Elysia was that he'd been so confident that he deserved it. After what happened in the plains, he had to wonder at his audacity. He'd so easily fallen into that mode, the place he most feared to go. Yet, if Hades knew of it and still let him pass. . .And Xena. . and, his gaze turned to Marcus. . .He had to ask himself, What had Gabrielle done that was so horrible, that she should be lost somewhere in this place?

Salmoneus found if very difficult to take notes in the dark. He had to give it up. It was okay though, he had a good memory and it gave him an excuse to talk to Izzy and glean details.

He was still trying to get the group to come up with a name for themselves, but not putting so much "pressure," as Penho called it, on his friends. She said it would naturally arise, but it might be his place to act as a reminder to look for the name. Then she reminded him to be patient. The naming of things in Tartarus often took longer than expected. It was rare that a person "changed," overnight.

"What's it like, changing?" He'd asked his lover. He still wasn't quite used to that. It felt odd to have what was the equivalent of a medical condition that *required* that he have sex. Melosa had been. . .kind. . . and had asked him, before asking Penho, what his preferences were. He suppose he should have asked to be with an Elysian, possibly Xena, but the thought made him feel incredibly. . .shy. He might joke about it, but. .they were his friends. Penho, she was his lover first. So the transition was easier for him. The thing was, he didn't know if she'd travel with them all the way, or if. . .well, if she'd stay behind in her village. All he could do was be grateful for the time he had, get to know her better, and hope.

Penho had deliberated so long on her answer that Salmoneus had come to the conclusion that he'd really stepped in it. But she did answer. "It's like . . .becoming your own mirror or, better, your own pond."

Now *that* answer wiggled in the back of Salmoneus' mind and he still didn't get it. Of course, he was wondering if he should trust the answer at all. . .considering . .This woman was Tartaran, right. That meant, she'd done. .bad things. . right? And possibly she was lying. Yet, when He looked at her,the way she held herself regal, the way she used her voice and joked with Izzy and talked equally with Melosa, he had to question himself. It all came to one curious, nosy point, which he would never ask. What had she, who had been so kind to him, done that brought her to this place?

So now he tried asking Izzy, another stranger he could talk to, the same question. Izzy didn't say anything for the longest time either, but patted her striger lightly on neck and clicked a no at Tok who was sniffing at a puddle of something murky. Xena, looked at Salmoneus through that bright blue impenetrable gaze of hers and then winked. Oh good, he wasn't the only one.

Izzy's response was just as perplexing as Penho's. She let go of the reigns and brought her hands together, palm to palm. The she opened them up. "It's like uncovering the butterdragon." Well, that didn't answer what he thought he was asking. So he thought maybe he ought to clarify.

Xena, who'd been riding besides Izzy and holding her peace, spoke up, "Does it hurt?" Now *that* was what he'd been asking. He was curious about the physical changes. The warrior prodded her mount with her knee and the Striger stepped around a dark, soft looking, wrinkly mass that seemed to rise out of the floor of the cavern.

It leapt. The warrior sliced. Now there were two bloody wriggling heaps on the ground. One of the heaps had teeth. Both bits seemed to have millions of tiny claws. The rest of the group behind the trio guided their strigers carefully around the bits. Tok teased at it, pouncing, but never too close, until Izzy called the daggite up front.

Izzy looked towards the end of the tunnel, grateful to see the width that indicated they were almost through. She turned her fire green eyes on her lover without smiling. Then, in what seemed to be typical, at least, of the two demonesses in this group, she answered without answering, "This is Tartarus, Xena."

"And that is supposed to mean what?" asked the ex-warlord. She was slightly peeved at Izzy's prevarication. More importantly, she felt the wound within the answer and it clenched in her gut.

"It means," said Izzy, as she pulled her striger to a stop. "That everyone's experience, despite some commonalities, is different." Which of course, did not answer Xena's question at all.

Izzy watched in silence as a group of bird like creatures waddled past, their neon green plumage seemed so out of place in the cavern, but their natural glow outshown the torches her people carried. They had broad flat beaks to match their broad flat bodies. There flat feet (with retractable claws) made no noise on the cavern's surface. They couldn't fly, but damn they were fast. Which they proved as soon as Tok noticed them. They scattered into the depths, hiding behind rocks and dimming their plumage, much to the frustration of Tok, who couldn't smell them because they smelled so much of the cavern.

Still, daggites are intelligent creatures. Xena watched observantly as Tok, carefully, returned to the place where it first attempted its pounce. Then she watched as the creature "planned," its next move. It seemed to follow an arbitrary trail, without lowering it's head to the ground. Then next thing she knew, the daggite ran full speed, leapt up some rockface and behind. There was a snarl and a high pitched yowl. Moments later, the horned creature hopped back into view with incriminating plumage on its face and a fuller gullet, looking very pleased with herself.

Xena made a mental note. Daggites track by memory. She began to see why the Tartarans might have a fear of them. Then she, piecing together the various looks and attitudes of those they've encountered, Xena took a moment to really examine what she knew about Izzy. Not Much. Which meant, soul mates or not, and Whatever Xena might think of Gabrielle, Izzy was *as* dangerous (perhaps moreso) as she looked. The only sure thing she knew. . .She was loved, by Izzy and by Gabrielle, wherever she was in there. The knowledge would have to be her key and starting point.

"What were those," asked Marcus. The Daggite's hunting method hadn't been lost on him either. He and the Amazons shared a grim look and an even grimmer understanding.

"Telites. Those were telites." the tall red woman said as her tail flicked against her striger's flank. The creature surged towards the end of the tunnel, and led the others on.


	22. Chapter 22

The sloping valley was so incredibly lush as to be almost . . .Elysian. Looking at it, one could hardly credit the lands or the Amazon village, Junon, as being anything but paradisical. That is, until one noticed the tall horned multicolored figures that mingled and went about their business peacefully among the human settlers.

Their escorts, four Tartaran Amazons, walked them into the center of Junon. It was just a formality, but one they took quite seriously. Unlike Elysia, where the handclasp above the head was no longer utilized, the Tartarans maintained a strong sense of security. As on earth, they had dropped down from the long, thick trees, seeming to come from out of nowhere.

There was a moment, when it seemed like the men would be left behind, or at least the Tartarans, in their dry humor, joked about it. Those grins hadn't reassured Marcus or Perdicus any, though Xena had given both some sympathetic words. It didn't help. . much. Salmoneus wasn't worried. Penho said he'd be sleeping with her tonight, so wherever she was, he would be or better said, wherever he was, she would be. She'd promised.

But the men weren't left behind. Instead, at the behest of Penho, the local Chieftess gave them limited access to the village baths, shops, communal kitchen and one of the guest huts. Salmoneus would be staying with Penho. Marcus and Perdicus counted their blessings. They had a roof over their heads for the night and a promise of a meal (which Izzy certified as being their kind of edible.)

On the other hand, Melosa was treated like a visiting Queen (which she was), and given access to just about anywhere she wanted to go. And she, and her mate pretty much wanted to visit everywhere. There was was so much to see in the thriving village. Junon even had, amazingly, a temple to the Goddesses. It made the Queen wonder, did Artemis visit Tartarus?

The Chieftess greeted Izzy like a long time friend, clasping her forearm in the warrior's grip and grinning hugely. Her smile was toothy and elongated when orange slitted eyes took in the markings upon the red Tartaran's chest. "It's about time. . .," she said teasingly, "that you came to visit us. We'd thought you'd taken the long fall."

Izzy laughed and shook her head, "Hardly. I've been watching my step." Then, surprising a certain ex-warlord, she'd introduced her mate, "Gosra, this is my mate, Xena." She shivered at the words, the admission and felt a swirl of desire run through her bones. Her tone was even, though there was, it seemed, hidden in the luxury that was her voice anyway, a definite purr that fuzzed through. Izzy couldn't help the sultry look that came over her face nor could she stop the way her nipples suddenly jolted awake.

That surprised her and it took a moment for her to regain her composure. No one had told her it would be like this. She fought back the urge, which suddenly came over her, to pick up her lover and run to the nearest guest hut. Her tail flickered to the side and paused there. Her horns flushed. She hovered just on the edge of another mating surge. Somehow though, she wasn't sure how, she managed to pull herself back from the brink. Gods, was it going to be like this every time?

She looked askance at her blue friend. There was, in between the lust that flushed the dark marks on her chest, a look of panic in her eyes. Penho gave her a reassuring look and smiled gently. Love was a very poweful thing among Tartarans, both prized and feared. It obviously affected Izzy more strongly than most. Penho wasn't the only one who noticed. A Tartaran quietly slipped away from the small crowd that gathered.

The yellow Tartaran and the warrior stared evenly at each other for a few moments, before the Chieftess broke out into a huge grin. "I bet you wore her out, didn't you." Xena blinked, then laughed. She couldn't help herself.

She shook her head. Dark tresses swirled gently. Then Xena grinned wickedly, "Well now that I know what to expect, you can bet I will." That got a huge guffaw out of Gosra and a small blush from Izzy. Tok nuzzled at Izzy's hand, begging for a bit of attention.

The Chieftess extended her palm and the two warriors clasped arms with a kind of comfortable familiarity. "Truly, when we'd heard you made Elysia, we were glad for you Xena."

Xena blinked. "You knew?"

Gosra grinned widely, "We could hardly not know it. There were howls from here to the Ninth." She whispered conspiratorially, "Seems you have some people on this world who haven't quite got over their angries, if you know what I mean."

Xena rolled her eyes. Oh good Gods. That meant, no doubt, that she'd be meeting some along the way. Well that was something to look forward to. . .Then she narrowed her eyes in sudden realization and turned to look at Izzy. The red demoness was suddenly occupied with gentling the daggite. Xena smirked. So, Izzy had quit listening hmm. . .She returned her attention to Gosra and smiled winningly.

"So," She said, "I've only been here.. . hmm. .three days, and this is all new to me." Gosra smiled understandingly. Izzy lifted her head in alarm, having a sudden intuition about where this conversation was going, She watched with dread as Xena fearlessly placed her hand on the Chieftess forearm, "What can you tell me about Izzy?" She was beginning to have an intuition about the Tartarans. This one was as safe as Izzy.

Gosra's eyes went wide and she grinned, "What, you're mates and she hasn't told you anything?" She waggled her eyebrows then patted the warlord reassuringly, "Don't worry about it. That happens more than you think. Some of us Tartarans are a bit shy. I will be happy to educate you," Izzy groaned at Gosra's next words and the sly glance the Tartaran gave her as she maneuvered Xena away from the crowd, "Besides, have I got stories for you."

Izzy, stood there, unsure whether to follow or not. She felt a presence behind her. "Paybacks are a bitch, huh?" Penho said and grinned. Izzy gave her an unamused look.

Then the Tartaran shook her head. "I should never have told the one about Gosra and the striger."

Penho patted her friend on the back, "Well, you might want to follow and do damage control, or you can come with me to my hut." Izzy raised her eyebrows, "I want to get Salmoneus settled." The red demoness' tail flicked as she contemplated. Tok pressed against her body and glanced from face to face.

"You sleeping in the Queen's hut tonight?" Izzy asked.

"Are you?"

"No."

"Neither am I."

"Let's get Melosa to stay there. It's not like there's ghosts or anything."

"Yeah!"

They grinned at each other. Izzy took a breath and let it out slowly. "I'll do damage control later. . .I mean, what can Gosra possibly tell her?" Penho raised her eyebrows and looked like she was about to say something. The red demoness held up a hand, "Don't say it. I know it, but I don't want to deal with it right now." The trihorned Tartaran grinned. Then Izzy bowed, but not very low. "After you, your majesty."

Penho grinned toothily, "Oh no, after you." Izzy smirked then started forward. Penho raised her eyebrows, "Hey! You think they'll have a party?"

"Are you kidding?" Izzy said, as waved Salmoneus over, "Is the sun going to rise tomorrow?" Tok's tail twitched in anticipation. There would be meat tonight.


	23. Chapter 23

There was at least an inch of dust on everything in the Temple. Melosa thought, of all the things she'd seen in Tartarus, this was perhaps the most depressing. She let her finger slide inside the surface of the empty bowl. It was well oiled wood underneath all that. At one time, this place had been cared for.

In Elysia, the Gods were forgotten because in paradise you didn't need them. In Tartarus, one probably needed the gods more than ever. Yet no one dared to call on them. It was because, their youngish tour guide said, those who were in Tartarus had all betrayed the gods in one way or another, or at least themselves. Who felt worthy enough? They needed, yet no one could reach. . or else there were other things holding them back. It was a horrible irony.

When she'd asked, "Why bother having a temple then?" that was when the hurt of it really hit.

"Because enough of us loved them at one time." the dark blue demoness replied. Her red glowing eyes took in the dust and Melosa thought she saw her flinch in shame. "We betrayed her, but we loved her."

Oriena looked around the space, her hands on her hips. "Well, I for one, think this place needs a cleaning. What good is a temple if it's not cared for, at least."

Their guide spoke defensively, "It used to be. Izzy. . ." She shifted on her feet, but didn't continue. Melosa lifted her eyes from the bowl she now held in her hand. The grain was beautiful and one could tell it was a whole piece. Whoever made it, had spent a good amount of time on the item. She dreaded to set it down on the table.

She turned to the guide, her eyes flashing. Her expression brooked no argument. "Get some people. Let's get this placed cleaned up and the fire lit. Tartarus or not, if a temple is here, it should be used." The startled demoness looked confused until Melosa ordered, without even coming near to a shout, "Move!"

The demoness scattered out of the temple, her nails clicking on the wooden floor. Oriena looked briefly at her lover then at Melosa. "You think it will do any good?"

The Queen of the Amazons, one of a long line, shrugged. "It doesn't matter if it does, really. I just. . .IF Artemis can be here, we should make the way." Melosa nodded her head grimly. "I begin to think Tartarus may need her." She snaked an arm around her lover's waist, "Besides, even if they don't need her, I do." Melosa shivered. "We need all the allies we can get on this trip. . ."

"And you want to find Meredith." Oriena intuited.

"And I want to find Merideth." Melosa smiled. "If anyone would know where she was. . ."

"It would be Artemis." They smiled at each other.

The Queen set the bowl down carefully in the dust. She sighed, "She used to be a favorite of the goddess. . ."

The blonde comforted her companion, "Maybe she still is?"

Melosa smiled grimly, "There's no way to know until we ask." She lifted her eyes to the ceiling, "and I've a feeling not much of that gets done around here."

Penho pushed Salmoneus prone into the hole in the floor. Then gave him a forceful kiss. "Make no noise! I'll come get you when it's safe." Then she shut him in the dark.

He heard something scraping over the floor and found himself almost holding his breath. It was so dark. He could feel the pressure of it tingling against his skin. He had to bite his cheek to keep from screaming.

It was organized pandemonium in the village as the Tartaran Amazons hurried to gather their weapons and secure Junon. Their guide explained it all too briefly, "Cannibals." She'd sneered the words as dropped the oiled rag in her hand, "They call themselves Amazons, but they're not any of them of the tribe. Not on this or any level. They have no honor and make no trade. Even Izzy. . ."

Once again she didn't complete the sentence. Melosa filed the information away, making her own assumptions. She could almost guess what was implied, but there was no way for her to know. Instead she belted her sword back on and helped her lover with hers. Their other weapons were in the Queen's hut. They would have to work with what they had.

The Tartaran noted their preparations. "You don't have to do this."

Oriena grinned fiercely. "We're Amazons." Melosa nodded and finished the buckle.

Their guide smiled for the first time since meeting them. She waved a great paw of a hand. "Follow me."

Marcus did *NOT* appreciate being put in the ground and wouldn't budge. He folded his arms and looked grim. Perdicus, while a touch more cooperative, would not leave Marcus. Izzy tried reasoning, but didn't have enough time to argue. It was too dangerous. They said they could deal with danger. So she took them someplace else. She put them in with the kids and past the two massive muscularTartarans who guarded them.

"Fine," she'd said, "Then make yourself useful."

They'd found themselves looking at various young females, both human and non, some of which were very young indeed. This time, when Izzy shut the door to storage room, Marcus didn't grumble. He drew his sword and took a position on the left of the door. Perdicus took a position in the front of the group and drew his own weapon. She might not let them fight out there, but if the battle made it's way in here, they would be ready.


	24. Chapter 24

Her hand did the speaking. The cannibal "Amazon's" face was otherwise occupied with several eyes and several horns. She was tripodal and too large to ride a striger like some of her Tartaran companions. There were *no* humans among them.

Therefore, aside from the fact she was the chieftess, it was prudent that Gosra be the one to do the official . . .greeting. She never got around to it. "Give us the Meat and we'll let you live" Harshly delivered through teeth sharper than knives, the bold deep statement caused a shiver to run through Melosa's spine.

The villagers moved, forming a rapid protective circle around their humans. A human Tartaran winked at Oriena, nodded at the sword she'd drawn and grinned fiercely. Oriena, thought, for a moment that she recognized the face, but she couldn't quite place where she'd seen the woman before.

"Don't bother hiding them. Just give . . ." the hand growled out. The tripodal's tail jerked forward. A signal. The enemy shifted about. 'Shit,' thought Penho. That meant there was more out there. She made her own signal. Izzy nodded and she breathed a sigh of relief. The men had been hidden. Thank the Gods.

"Yiyiyiyi!!!!"

Izzy should have expected it. If Xena wasn't in the mood to hide, there was no stopping her. Despite herself, the demoness' hand went up to her brow and she watched as her lover jumped over the tall Tartaran blockade, disappeared into the light of the sun, then reappeared (spiraling), landing with a thump in the dirt besides Gosra. Xena spared a feral grin for the chieftess, then turned her attention to the "Amazon" from second level. OH boy. .it was going to start.

Xena laughed and smiled that wild smile of hers, "You don't want the meat that's here," she said. There was a smirk in her voice, a vicious kind of humor. Gods, she sounded like a Tartaran. "We're too tough for ya!" Then breaking pretty much every rule of Tartaran combat (especially when there was palaver before the battle), the warrior sliced the speaker's hand right off.

Oh Well, Xena was Elysian and couldn't be expected to know the rules. Izzy grinned in sudden vivid remembrance. Or to follow them.

The hand, freed from its originator, went yipping into the wilderness, scampering off to become another of Tartarus' weirdities. Who knew what the mutation might be? That would be something to think about later. Izzy turned her attention back to the situation at . . .hand.

The scarlet Tartaran, it seemed, was a fast healer. The arm extended plastically then split into fingers and thumb. The mouth, with its spiky teeth, formed right after. She screamed out at Xena (blowing the dark hair back, but not affecting much else on the stoic warrior's frame). The warrior, in what amounted to sheer impishness, stuck out her tongue. Then she laughed and tumbled away until she stood by her lover.

All those eyes blinked in astonishment. The warrior hadn't seemed phased at all. Then it smiled. "Well," the creature said, "I always liked my meat a bit spicy. Guess we'll just have to fight for it then." She backed away, signaling her cohorts.

Xena.

This was Xena.

There was a part of Izzy that hadn't believed, really, had just been playing along.

But this was really Xena.

Her heart burned in her chest. The demoness inhaled her lover's scent with a growling purring sound and showed her teeth. Then Izzy looked startled and shook her head to clear it. Okay, since when did she ever ever ...greet... anyone that way... Unacceptable. Confusing. Her hand went briefly to her chest, where new lines spiraled and sang awareness of her lover's presence.

The cause of her condition touched one of those dark marks and stroked sensuously along the length of it. Xena felt the heat of Izzy's skin change, saw her nipples rise. The warrior's lips curled in a feral seductive smile. She'd been well aware of what Izzy's reaction would be.

The demoness flinched because of the sensation that immediately rattled through her. Her tail arched up and stilled. She flushed with color. Her horns.. .gods. .were suddenly awake with sensation. She looked down, a mistake, and was caught in a stormy blue gaze.

Xena smiled tightly. It helped to have a bit of education. Gosra had been most helpful. . .and Izzy, despite her length of time here on Tartarus, was as new to this as Xena was. The warrior planned on using the information to its fullest potential. She crooked a finger at the now thralled demoness. "Come here." Izzy leaned forward, the imminent battle forgotten. The tip of her long tongue flicked out, her nostrils flared.

Xena's hand lifted up, above Izzy's head, then came down in a caress along the Tartaran's left horn. The sound that came out of Izzy wasn't anything Xena had heard before and it made her tingle at her very core. Xena gently wrapped her hand around the sharp pointed protrusion. Izzy inhaled, hissing through her teeth with unexpected pleasure. Her center flushed with passion.

Xena's voice was a soft purr, "You're mine. Remember that" she said. Her mouth briefly touched sweet warm lips. Then her tongue flicked against suddenly sensitive teeth. (OH GODS, Izzy-Gabrielle's mind screamed, she could feel with her teeth!!!!) There was that noise again. It thrilled down Xena's spine. She felt a strong buzz flow through, as warned, from her lover's nearness. The connection, Gosra had said, was never as one sided as human's believed. Well now Xena believed. . .and she hoped to the Gods that what Gosra said was true.

The irises of Izzy's greenfire eyes flickered. It was time for Xena to make her point. Her lips brushed softly against the red one's lips. "If you behave yourself, I'll make it worth the wait," she promised as she withdrew. Izzy actually whimpered at the loss of contact. She nearly cried when the warrior let go. The warrior pressed against Izzy's chest with a pointed finger. "No fucking on the battlefield. Understood?"

Izzy nodded jerkily, surprised out of her thrall. She'd no intention of. . .Her mouth opened to protest, then shut at the look her lover gave her. She nodded again, more sincerely, definitely sheepishly. Then she leered and leaned in and whispered roughly in Xena's ear, "I promise Xena. Not during this battle." Her voice, slid through the warrior, igniting all sorts of internal "fires". Gods, Xena thought, what a way to start. By the time Gosra called the signal, Xena was more than ready for one form of release or another.

It wasn't until they were well into the battle, and she'd scored another bloody mark along a yellow Tartaran's side, that Xena realized that Izzy's had been a limited promise.


	25. Chapter 25

The battle was going along quite merrily until the harpies came. A shout rose up from one of the faux Amazons and she pointed with the gore splashed hand of her long green tail. There wasn't time for anyone to retreat before the harpies, who were normally a third level menace, descended. Obviously they were attracted by the carnage. Their shrieking laughter and bony bodies swung low and fierce. There was a scream from one of the villagers that was abruptly cut off with a bony stab through her cranium. That harpie held its lunch and fluttered off.

Izzy's red slicked hand clenched too familiarly around the handle of the weapon, though she had not been the one to embed it in the creature's chest. Actually, she had yet to provide a fatal blow to anyone in this battle. It was an oddly refreshing occurrence and minded her of the time when she first fought besides Xena.

In the distance there was a piercing ululation and the wild sound of laughter mixing with clanging metal and grinding flesh. Dark hair swirled, ice blue eyes flashed and white teeth gleamed. She was covered in the ichor that was the Tartaran's natural substance. She'd hacked a nativeborn then. First level or second level, possibly a young third level. Xena wasn't screaming from being burned alive. Reminding herself to warn Xena about nativeborns when she had a chance, Izzy turned her attention to the raucous cries above her.

A green's hand lifted to throw a knife. Tok slid into view from the side then disappeared behind the firehaired demoness, leaping. Her claws and teeth carved into the screaming green's side and face before Izzy could even heft the axe into the air. Xena shouted, "Good Girl!!" There was a whirring sound that passed by Izzy's ear and up. Two harpies fell. Their heads were disconnected from their bodies. There was a whirring sound of return and a mocking joke about losing one's head in battle.

Izzy smiled. Even now Xena protected her. Her! A demon of Tartarus. The knowledge sparked something within the woman that hadn't been there. She hardly recognized it, but the sensation was familiar. It felt warm and flooded through her like a soothing balm. Gabrielle calmed inside, really calmed inside. The feeling even filled in the blood lusting places, marking them, changing them to something different. The lust was there, but it . . .evolved.

The marks on her chest swirled into new positions. Some, almost heart shaped, split into stripes, forming a kind of ventilated layered skin. It seemed as if there was a glow that peeked out of some of those slivers, while others seemed to deepen into a dark that suggested a depth darker and deeper than Hellsmouth. Her eyes flickered, settling somewhere between a snakes slit and the round of her human nature. Her hair color even changed rippling from flaming orange to a kind of burnished gold. Her horns lengthened about two inches, curving a bit more. It was the smoothest change (aside from the first marking in Xena's arms) that she'd ever experienced and she wondered what else it had affected within her. She gasped, but otherwise expressed no pain, for there wasn't any.

There was, however, a huge impulse to defend. Izzy wanted to defend Xena as she had been, was being, defended. Her instincts roused to their fullest, centering around her lover. Her body felt the flush of mating, but it was tempered with a knowing of her mate. Izzy was aware of something she'd suspected and kind of knew, but had never been able to confirm. Xena was excited by the battle. Not necessarily the blood, though the copper taste seemed to do something for her, but the (Izzy wasn't sure what to call it, so she settled for one generic word) creativity involved (though there was definitely more to it than that). It was the oddest thing, but with each heartbeat, Izzy understood. Xena was performing her art, and it turned the warrior on.

The red didn't bother to look behind her as she threw the axe mightily at the oncoming spawn who threatened her lover. Metal crunched sickeningly into bone and the harpie fell, crunching some more. She turned and watched as it cried out and tried to lift itself feebly. A hooved one stepped back onto its skull and the harpie was left to become dust. Xena blinked, then grinned with gleeful battle abandon and raised her sword in salute before spiraling up and out to cause grief for another.

Izzy nodded familiarly to the faux Amazon, who grimaced back. Then Xena's lover grabbed a sword from a dead hand and leapt into the air with spread wings. As signals go, that one was most effective. She was joined by a few others, both local and cannibal, and they fought the harpies back while their companions battled for supremacy below.

There was a scraping above Salmoneus' head; a scraping and then a thump. He'd actually gotten comfortable, once he got past being in the dark, by himself, in the ground. It was like having one's own private meditation space. The only thing that might have made it better, perhaps, were if he'd been well. .less flat. Maybe if he could have been floating?. .water? Wow, what a sensation that would be. What would happen if. . .  
Thump.

There it was again. What was that? He thought he could hear the sounds of battle outside, but he wasn't sure it wasn't just the noise in his head. He sincerely hoped it was Penho coming to get him. For one thing, he missed her and for another, he really needed to talk to her about these control issues. He might be a merchant, but he could defend himself. He'd fought with the greatest of Men. Wait, that didn't sound right.

He'd fought besides the greatest of men. .and women.. why, he'd helped Xena . . .

Creeeeaaaak. Craaack!!!

Salmoneus shivered with the noise and knew something was wrong as soon as the boards broke. Large yellow hands reached down from the blinding light. He couldn't see enough to resist. He was lifted and found himself blinking at an unfamiliar face. . and stench. The demon's pitted face grimaced down at him before breaking into a ferocious smile. A gravelly voice spat out, "Hello meat."


	26. Chapter 26

There weren't even screams, just surprised thuds against the surface of the walls. The door was being pounded so hard that it was cracking with loud groans under the pressure. That's when they knew there was a problem.

Marcus settled into a relaxed stance and raised his sword in preparation a few feet away from the door. He was accompanied by one of the interior guards, who'd also prepared herself for a battle. The other one was pushing at something against the far wall. Marcus couldn't see what it was, but he heard the grinding noise and made a quick assumption.

Perdicus helped to round the children up, guiding them into the dark cavernlike space. The guard with a spiky grin handed him an unlit torch, then blew on it. The torch flickered to life. Perdicus blinked, but held out his other hand. She took it in her own. Their eyes exchanged an understanding. He would protect with his life. He turned his vision, briefly, to Marcus and then back to her. There was a nod.

Marcus was grabbed from behind by a pair of very strong hands. He felt himself being unceremoniously guided to the hole in the wall. The voice was grating in his ear, "Guard our children." Then he was pushed in. He turned just in time to see a worried looking demonic face closing him into the small cavern.

He took note. There were thirteen children; seven who looked like native Tartarans and six who looked human. Two of the children were old enough to wield the daggers and the others. . .young enough to walk. They were in a cave that seemed to go in only one direction. The torch, held in Perdicus' firm grip, flickered. There was an air source, probably farther back, which meant, possibly another entrance . . . With the pounding he'd heard on the other side, he knew that the . .enemy. .would break through. He looked at Perdicus, whose expression remained neutral.

"We've got to go further in." The ex-mercenary indicated the passageway with his sword. "We don't know how long, or if this stone will hold. I think," He looked at the smooth surface of the wall, "this is an escape exit." He tried to look confident, but his real thought was, 'I hope.'

The young man nodded in agreement. Perdicus didn't trust his voice at the moment. One hand was occupied with providing the light. The other was being held trustingly by a small purple hand that belonged to a wide eyed miniature Tartaran. The little one's horns were the size of buds, indicating his heritage, but his eyes were as soft and scared as any child Perdicus had ever seen and it melted his heart. That fear was reflected by the other children, save in those too young to be afraid for very long. Perdicus thought it was interesting that when toddler Tartaran's cry, they made little noise. Their cheeks, however, were as wet as a human child's would be (and were. .. he noted that they cried almost silently too. .great big rolling tears, but only the slightest hint of sniffles and eye wiping). He suddenly wondered where the infants were, but that thought didn't linger as he guided himself, the children and Marcus deeper into the darkness.

\------------------------

Izzy's tale wrapped firmly around the dryad's neck and snapped it like a twig. She growled and ripped the body apart with her hands and feet. The wreckage plummetted to the ground. Those underneath either paid attention or got impaled. She was so busy that she almost missed, almost, the flashing armor of Tartaran assailants on the village proper. She screamed in rage, filled with a sudden understanding that the dryad visitation, as deadly as it was for both parties, had been a deliberate set up.

She abandoned the battle with the dryads, leaving it to those who were already in the air and swooped down. "XENA!!!!" she called, "PENHO!!" She instinctively headed for those whose strength she'd relied on, most successfully, in the past. Xena looked up, just in time to feel Izzy's strong arms wrap around her waist. Penho was already running to the village, accompanied by a few who could make their way from the battle ground.

"Drop me there!" Xena commanded, indicating the space with her sword. Izzy let go and didn't bother to see if her lover landed safely. She had confidence and it was well placed. Xena tucked and rolled with the tossing manuever Izzy made and ended up slamming feet first into the chests of two ungainly and shocked looking Tartarans.

Xena laughed and gave a few solid kicks to make sure they were down then proceeded to conduct bloody mayhem on the nonlocals. She was pulling her bloody sword from one assailant when she noticed the cage wagon. Salmoneus, who looked worse for wear, was paying little or no attention to the battle around him. He was obviously trying to unlock the cage's door, but he was no Autolycus. She was happy to see him alive, but angry to see he'd been captured. "Pen!!" She got the blue's attention, and pointed, then she had to duck and attend to other business.

Penho's light blue skin turned three shades darker. Her eyes flashed angrilly and the Tartaran she'd been fighting, found itself being viciously assaulted and killed. She made her way slowly to Salmoneus and the others in the cage.

Meanwhile, Melosa had cleared her way from the field and was well on her way to village when she was struck from behind. The tingling of the blow shivered all the way through her. Her vision blurred, then everything went dark.


	27. Chapter 27

The cave's floor and ceiling sloped downward. Marcus, the tallest of the group, found himself ducking his head. The glow of the torch seemed faint, though it really wasn't that far ahead of him. It's light flickered eerily across the moistly dark surface of the cave walls. The young one's traveled as shadows in front of him. He heard only the scuff of their feet and a soft sniffle or two. It occurred to him that this was not shyness on their part. This was training. They had learned to be mostly silent and it sent spirals of thought through his head.

They came to a point where the pathway split and Marcus acted on his assumption. He picked the oldest one, a female. Her golden eyes pierced through the dark and seemed to flicker like the torch. "Which way should we go?" She looked at the choices and hesitated, then pointed. Marcus noted the unusual markings at the side of the entrance.

Their quiet march continued, and they encountered other such choices. Sometimes there were even three passage ways to choose from. Each time, she picked one with a similar marking to the first. They stopped often, for the sake of the little ones, and rested. Marcus ended up carrying the smaller humans, exchanging them with the older Tartaran's to give them rest. Even so, it seemed, these little ones had more stamina than a child of earth. It felt like they walked forever and he thought it might very possibly be so, but they stopped, eventually, at another one of those crossroads.

This time their young guide looked doubtful. She turned to look at the men, her yellow skin showing golden in the flickering light. Her voice was young and sweet and silky and it caused shivers to flush through the men. "I've never been this far before." Primal images clouded their minds briefly, but the concerns of their travels weighed in their minds, "My mother said to follow the marks," She looked up at the ceiling again, "But I can't find them."

The small green male, who still clung to Perdicus' hand spoke. "I wanna go home." Perdicus looked down into a face filled with an intense anxiousness and then at faces that shared the little one's obvious desire. Gabrielle's husband looked up at Marcus. The dark man looked as tired as he felt. Perdicus held the torch up a little higher, looking for something, some sort of indication.

Marcus saw it first. It was too high for a really good look, but it seemed like the marks he'd seen. The young demoness looked up. The marks were barely discernible. They almost. . looked like the ones she was told to follow. She looked above the other entry way. There was nothing but a few scratches where the marks should have been. It was their only choice. She nodded her agreement. This time Marcus pointed, with more confidence than he felt. "We'll go this way."

They continued on.

\-------------------------------

Oriena fought with a passion. She stood guard over her fallen lover, fighting with such ferocity that she earned more than a few entries into the warrior tales that would be passed among the denizens of Tartarus. By the time the fighting on the battlefield was over she and her tribemates had earned more than a grudging respect from the Amazons.

There were few cannibals left to limp home. The wounded were attended to. The dead were wearily gathered to be burned. When sorrowing Amazons came to gather Melosa, Oriena held them off by swordpoint. The village chieftess thought the blonde was grieving and tried to reason with her, to no avail. They decided to leave her alone, respecting her grief, and the signs of battle were cleared from the field.

Oriena knelt slowly, using her sword almost a crutch. Her heart clenched within her as she stared at the vacant face of her lover. She touched Melosa's face gently and didn't fight the tears. She could feel the distance between them and her whole body ached with it, even though she knew her love would rise again soon. Her words were soft and barely carried on the wind, "How did you ever stand it, my love?"

\--------------------------------

Melosa wasn't quite as far as Oriena thought. She felt solid, but when she bent and laid her hand on the Amazon's shoulder to comfort her, it passed through, as if it were sliding through water. Oriena shivered, but otherwise did not respond.

Melosa straightened up and looked around herself. It was odd, but she wasn't frightened. Everything seemed. .brighter, more glowing, more. . .vivid. The forest was alive and green with energy. She saw a figure step out and reached for her sword, but it wasn't there. So she waited, tensely at first, and then as time passed she relaxed. She figured she must be dreaming. Then, as the woman drew closer and she noted the bow and her gracious smile, Melosa knew she was dreaming, and knelt, and bowed her head.

"Hail Artemis."

The Goddess didn't smile, nor did she frown. The sound of her voice was as soothing as a soft wind in the trees. "Be at peace, my child, and stand. I have much to tell you and you have much to do."


	28. Chapter 28

Whatever plans Izzy had for Xena's body was abruptly interrupted by the shout, "the children are missing!" Which meant, of course, that Perdicus and Marcus were missing too. She trembled with disappointment, and a bit of anger . .she had such an urgency. It was almost piercing in its ache. Her only consolation was that she wasn't the only one suffering. She set her need aside in her mind, though she remained peripherally aware of physical pulsing within herself.

Izzy pulled away from the kiss. Xena's tongue grazed along the edge of her teeth before finally surrendering to the moment. The warrior's sharp azure gaze spoke of her own fierce desire.

The demoness looked down. "Well at least I kept my promise," she stated matter of factly as she slid her tail teasingly along Xena's thigh. Her voice was a purr. Xena pushed the Tartaran back with her palms. The muscles in her arms flexed powerfully.

"At least."

It was a snarl of a response and rang strangely in Izzy's ears. Xena slipped out of red woman's grasp and hostilely stalked away from the small ally they'd been occupying. The warrior was upset, and it was more than from being interrupted. The hut's wall was still warm from where Xena's body pressed against it, and Izzy passed a hand over the smooth surface, just to get one last shudderingly hot feel of her lover.

A powerful tingle scorched up her fingers and palms through her arms and shoulders to her belly. It felt good in an odd way, but there was a darkness to it that curdled whatever pleasure she might have felt. The Tartaran blinked, deciphering the sensation and finding it all too familiar. There was a jolt of fear, something she hadn't felt in a long time, and it wasn't for herself. She shook her hand out to get some normal feeling back into it. Then she followed after Xena with concern in her eyes.

\-------------------------

Melosa held the strip of cloth in her hand, evidence of their passage down the wrong pathway. She looked at the tribal chieftess with a mix of chagrin and horror. "They didn't know."

The chieftess looked about her and nodded, "I'd have been hard pressed." She touched the rocky surface which had been obviously scored away to appear like the numeral one. "It was done on purpose."

Melosa clenched the strip in her hand. "You're sure it's second level?"

The guard nodded her head affirmatively, "Second most definitely. We keep the path open, in case our hunters need to go during the off seasons. The children knew to keep to first, but. . ."

Melosa's jaw clenched. "My people are with them." She tossed the cloth down to the ground.

"I'm sure it's not their fault." Penho soothed, "these marks would fool . . ."

"Someone who didn't know better." Melosa spat the words out, frustrated. She felt Artemis' caution in her soul. She'd not even been able to do a purification rite and she knew she needed to talk to Izzy and soon. They needed Artemis with them. . .needed her. Oriena touched her lover's shoulder gently. There was something different about Melosa. She hadn't quite placed it yet, but ever since her eyes opened there'd been a touch of. . .fervor. . . in her gaze. It concerned the valiant Amazon in ways that made her feel. ..unsettled.

Xena spoke up from the other side of the cavern as she entered. She dropped Melosa and Oriena's packs at their feet. "Seems we won't be spending the night after all. Izzy's getting a few more supplies. Some of the mothers will be accompanying us."

"Would I could send them all," said the chieftess mournfully. Melosa looked chagrined, "Melosa, this is not your people's fault. If they follow the trail you should find them soon enough. They're bound to," she paused, facing reality, "get tired. Maybe they'll stop."

"They'll stop. Little legs can only go so far, even if they're Tartaran. At least they have a couple of adults with them. They'll be bound to notice when the little ones are tired." There was a murmur of agreement. "We'll probably catch them before they even make the entry level." The blue Tartaran turned to Melosa, "I'll be coming with you." Penho stated as she headed back out, "You don't have to wait."

"We'll wait," Salmoneus spoke firmly. He looked straight at Xena, "We'll wait." There was a short nod from the warrior. They had to wait for Izzy anyway.


	29. Chapter 29

They followed the mothers into the cavern. Xena payed attention to each turn, each possible marker. She felt Izzy's warm presence behind her and was reassured. There was an unspoken understanding. Later. They would meet their needs later and now, that energy she would have put towards pleasured release from the battle, she put towards orienting herself within the cavern.

She could feel the slope of the floor. They were descending. She could, through that uncanny sense of direction she'd always had, determine that they were heading in an western direction, towards the setting sun. She estimated that it had been aproximately four candlemarks since they'd begun their search. Each time they came to a crossroad, she'd expected to see Marcus' sweet face, Perdicus' relieved smile. They'd seen neither.

She wondered, briefly, what Gabrielle thought of it all. How she planned, if she planned, on telling Perdicus. Certainly the demoness had made no move in that direction. She seemed content to be. . Izzy. The demoness, however, had changed in the battle and Xena didn't know what to make of it, except that the Tartaran's expression had softened to something tantalizingly familiar and recognizable.

There was a call to halt up front. Xena stopped and felt Izzy's hand land gently upon her shoulder. "Want a lift?" the Tartaran offered. Xena blinked and looked up. Pride, no pride? Pride. . no. .

"Yeah."

Xena felt hands wrap themselves around her waist and she was lifted to where she could see clearly. Damn the Tartarans for being so tall. She was only comforted by the realization that Izzy couldn't see either. Strong arms held her aloft and she found herself settling upon Izzy's shoulders. She wrapped her legs around the woman's body to brace herself. "What do you see?" Izzy asked.

Xena sniffed and shook her head, "Not much. Melosa's up front."

"No sign of . . ."

Sharp blue eyes peered. "N. ..," she started, then stopped. There was a wave from up front and a motion for silence. She tapped Izzy's head and indicated the need to get down. She hopped off herself, suddenly grateful for her lover's strength. "They found 'em."

Whether that was a good thing, or bad, she didn't know.


	30. Chapter 30

It's not like they were silent. Though for a group as large as theirs the footfalls had been amazingly quiet. There was still the rattle of weapons to give them away.

Apparently none of that disturbed the sleeping figures. The young green was nestled in Perdicus' arms, slobbering lightly upon the man's shoulder. Perdicus didn't mind. He was as oblivious as the rest of them.

Marcus was the only one who was semi awake. He'd managed to stand up, his sword wavering, when he saw the first Tartaran, but the light of the torch had revealed the Amazon trappings. Melosa's familiar grin had reassured him. He let the women in to claim their own.

There was some shifting about. The cavern Marcus had selected for their "campsite," was a small space, with no obvious entry way save for the exit at the. . .he had no idea what direction it was. But it was there. Only one. It had been perfect and though they'd not lit a fire, it had been relatively warm with their cumulative body heat. Especially, since it seemed that Tartaran's temperature ran higher than an Elysian's.

He was extremely glad they'd chosen to stop. Especially when he was informed that he wasn't that far from the second level exit. The mother's drifted between irked that they'd traveled so far and nodding appreciation of the inobvious site he'd selected.

The kids had just enough rest to be cranky. Perdicus' little friend cried and clinged to him, until he realized it was his mother and he was being offered a meal. Then, after the fickle manner of the hungry, he turned from the human who'd guarded him and began to suckle happily. Perdicus really didn't think about it until later, when he realized how mundane a moment that had been.

Fortunately for the children, they didn't have to walk. Not even the sweet female who'd led the way. She was scooped into her mother's arms and was soon sleeping to the gentle pace the Amazon set. Marcus would never have believed the tenderness of the expressions, had he not seen it. These children were well loved.

The mothers didn't wish their children to be this close to the next level, though the hunters kept it fairly clear from vermin. Those young one's were quickly gathered and the Elysians and only a few Tartaran's found themselves alone.

Melosa made the decision, though not before pulling the village cheiftess to the side. They would stay the rest of the night in the relative protection of the cavern, then travel on.

She told the big woman something so astounding that the Tartaran gasped. The Queen's grasp was strong and her eyes deeply searching. "Will you do it?" she asked the chieftess.

There was a nod, then a slow slow smile. "We'll see to it." The chieftess turned and looked at the tribemates then at Melosa, "If what you say is true, We'll expect you back for celebration."

Melosa grinned, "We'll be there." They clasped forearms.

"Call upon us if you need us. Izzy know's the way, and Penho." Melosa agreed and thanked the tall horned woman. "We are sisters. I'd expect the same of you."

"You would recieve it," was Melosa's simple answer. It was more true than the queen would have supposed.


	31. Chapter 31

There was no privacy in the cavern. The noises of the moaning time, however, were muted and faint. They got rest instead. Marcus and Perdicus, who really were weary slept, deeply. Melosa and her lover spoke quietly with each other. The fire that warmed them flickered its light upon those present. Salmoneus, rested comfortably against Penho's chest. Her heartbeat was reassuring to the man and it was almost as soothing as. . .well . .the other.

They talked too. He asked questions about her life in Tartarus. She answered some of them, but not everything, and not what he really wanted to know. How did she get here? That was the pressing question to him. He knew he loved her. He knew he would love her, no matter what, but. .it would be good to know. Keep that whole disturbing bad surprises thing away.

She wouldn't say, though she caressed him gently, affectionately.

All she said was, "You'd be surprised." Then she started talking about what he might see on second level. She said, "Things don't really get scary until about third level, but be on your guard anyway. There's more spill over here, more monsters."

"You'll protect me, won't you?" He'd asked. She'd smiled down at him and kissed his mouth gently. Her fingers curled through his hair then she fanned them upon his beard.

"I'll do my best Salmoneus." Her smile was sad, as if she'd said those words before.

Izzy crouched by the fire. Her tail curled around her feet. Tok watched her with feral eyes and softly snorted.

Izzy didn't talk. She tugged at strands of her hair which had turned more golden and red. Her green eyes assessed the change. To know more than the physical required meditation and there wasn't time for that, nor was this the place.

The shing shing of Xena's habitual weapons maintenance touched something within the demoness. It was a primal memory of how things used to be and how thing were not. If she had felt safe leaving them here, Izzy would have gone on a walk and possibly never have come back. But her concerns for her friends. . .and her lover. .kept her near, but silent.

The noise stopped abruptly. By Izzy's count, it was earlier than normal. Xena spoke out, gently, "Come here." The demoness half turned and looked at Xena. The Elysian patted the ground beside her. "Come." Izzy looked like she couldn't decide. Xena narrowed her gaze. Izzy felt a tugging within and knew. This was what she had been warned about. The summoning. Xena could summon her with a thought. She could resist though. She could resist because she was strong. She was very strong.

Izzy stood up. The cavern was open enough that she didn't have to bend. She padded over on bare feet that had claws for toenails. She towered over her lover for a second, then folded downward, almost spiraling to the ground. Her tail covered her lap. The flat of the point tapped her thigh.

Xena set her sword to the side. It was sharp enough. It gleamed from the oiling. The familiar motions gave her time to think. She needed to talk to Izzy, but in the past. . .She suddenly missed Gabrielle.

Tok crawled on her belly to the other side of the warrior, settled down again and looked out in the direction of the entry way. It's diamond eyes took in every nuance. Izzy had yet to take away the command of "guard," so it watched.

Xena wasn't one to put things off, unless it mattered strategically. "You look different," she noted. Oh, that was good, the warrior criticized herself. Couldn't come up with better? Try again.

Izzy blinked at the fire. She picked up a rock and fiddled with it. "I am," she acknowledged. She tossed the small stone into the fire. It sent up sparks. Perdicus moved sleepily against Marcus, disturbed. He didn't wake.

Xena wondered briefly if it had been this difficult for Gabrielle. . .when Gabrielle had been. . "Look," she said, trying to be reasonable. She kept her expression friendly, reassuring, "this isn't a terrible thing. It. . .You. . it looks good. .."

Izzy turned and gave the warrior princess a narrowed look, "This is Tartarus Xena." Her voice sent shivers down Xena's spine. It was supposed to scare her, but the effect was just the opposite. If Gabrielle was being defensive. . .

The Tartaran continued, "Don't be fooled by looks. There are things you don't know about me. You shouldn't. . ." She quit while she was ahead and looked away again. The stone of the cavern wall seemed to be appealing. It glittered with hidden minerals and stories.

Xena touched her arm. The shock of it streamed uncontrolably through the red woman. Izzy whirled, a growl on her lips. Her teeth were bared. Her eyes sparkled and seemed to hold a light of their own. It was an over reaction and she knew it. The Tartaran was in a dangerous state of mind. Gods, she needed some privacy. Just a few moments She pulled away from the warrior. "Leave me. . ."

"Take her out Xena." Penho spoke quickly, sharply, urgently. "Get her out of here." The others, those who were awake, were staring. "There's another cavern, just a little ways from here. Go back to it." She was trying not to say what needed to be done. Xena knew. She knew as soon as she had touched her lover. "I'll guard here." Izzy stood up and took a menacing step in Penho's direction. Penho remained seated, but held herself ready. "Go on with her, Izzy. You know you need to. Go."

Izzy made Tok stay. The daggite whimpered but settled back to guarding. It looked up at Izzy trustingly. She leaned down and stroked the creature's head reassuringly. "It'll be alright," the Tartaran said gruffly, "I'll be back." Tok blinked at her. It understood.

Xena grabbed their belongings and a bit of flame with a torch and pushed Izzy out of the small haven. They did not look back. Salmoneus sat up. "What's wrong with her? Is she going to be alright?"

Penho quirked a smile. "There's nothing there that Xena and a little time can't cure, Sal." She hugged the man. He had no idea she was speaking of more. "Izzy'll be alright. So will Xena. They'll be more than alright." The blue Tartaran gently wiped the hair from Salmoneus' face and gave him a soft kiss. She smiled. Then looked up.

Melosa watched her with knowing eyes.


	32. Chapter 32

Xena had been determined that this would not be an issue of force. They could play that game another time. She bided, fixing up the cavern to her satisfaction, laying down the bundles which Izzy had so grudgingly carried and making their bed with a deliberate neutrality. She'd then proceeded, matter of factly, to undress. Completely. Izzy, who saw more in the dark than humans see in daylight, absorbed the warm light that was Xena's skin as each part of her was revealed. The warrior burned more bright to her than the torch's solemn glow.

Izzy watched her with eyes that were starving and a soul filled with disquiet. "Why?" she'd asked as the warrior shed her second skin. "Why?" There was a whole universe of longing in the question.

The warrior held out her arms, palms out in gentle invitation, and called her lover. "Gabrielle." Izzy swayed. Her tail snapped back and forth. Another time perhaps she might have fought the summons, had she felt more willful, but she was already weak with need.

It was crude. The sex was stripped to its fundamentals. Izzy was well aware of when she felt Xena's hands upon her, lifting her skirt, and then gripping and stroking her. They slid to the furs as one. The Tartaran spread her legs, forgetful of anything but Xena and the solid sleek weight of the warrior upon her body. Her tail skimmed around the warrior's back, pressing, and holding. Her hands scraped at the furs underneath, scoring the ground. She bucked urging the warrior. "Please. Please, inside. Please." That was as far into civility as she could manage and was much more than she would have offered anyone else.

She really didn't have to ask. Xena was going there anyway. Her palm pressed against Gabrielle's center and slid down until her thumb rested on that slick point and her fingers found the entry way. The warrior's succulent mouth covered a hot breast. Izzy groaned, lifting and pushing. Xena slid in and gloried in the humid and surprisingly tight embrace of her lover.

Izzy helped nature along. She realized that she didn't want to be the only one feeling good. She didn't dare use her hands, since she was well aware of the clawmarks she was making upon the ground and the tears she was making in the bottom furs, but her tail was active and her mouth. They kissed often and fiercely, tongues playing together in an infinitely sweet dance. Izzy's tail descended behind the warrior and under. Xena found herself being touched intimately with its tip and she learned that she could rub against its otherwise rock steady surface.

The sex felt good. It felt really good, for both of them. The pleasure of it, the relief of it, was so intense that they forgot to speak, forgot to do anything but breath, and move primally against each other. Moans filled their breath as the spiraled closer and closer. They moved in tandem, slicking each other. Izzy's tailend grew very wet and Xena's hand, likewise. It wasn't until Xena began tasting Gabrielle's marks with her tongue that one of them was tossed over the edge and into ecstacy's chasm. The Tartaran cried out with pleasure because Xena's lips against her skin, right there, felt so remarkably, devastatingly good. She clamped spastically, orgasmically around Xena's fingers. "OH Gods! Xena!!!" It was . . .Xena hadn't even. . .It was more than she'd ever expected or deserved and there was nothing she could do but surrender. "Oh Xena. Oh Xena." Gods. .. she loved Xena so. .. .

There was a shockwave of pleasure that caused the tail to lose its steadiness and grind forcefully into the warrior. That was enough for Xena, who thrilled to her own bliss and sparkled out in relief. She held her own cry, waiting, until she could crawl up the Tartaran's body and pull the woman tight into her arms. Then she whispered it, an answer, to one of the questions that seemed so far away now, "I love you, Gabrielle." Then she put in the kicker, "and I always will."

Xena cradled the Tartaran as she wept.


	33. Chapter 33

She woke up to the most exquisite sensation. It was sweet, like biting into an orange for the first time. It was electric, like the jolt one felt after petting a sheep for too long. It was wet, like melting into desire.

"Oh Gods, Xena, What are you doing?" she panted, still not quite awake, but rapidly sliding into awareness. She felt the pressure of a hand curled around one of her horns. "Xena," she purred, "please. No. We've. I can't. . .Xena. . ." She shuddered involuntarily, feeling changes in her body that she'd not felt in. . . oh. .. .she mustn't let this. . .she couldn't. . .She moaned and tried weakly to pull away. It was dark, but she knew it was time. "We've got to. ..oh. .go. .Xena."

The grasp halted its motion over the soft velvet smooth of the horn. Xena brushed her hand against the Tartaran's sensitive face. There was a rich scent where her palm touched. It was a mix of sea and flowers. Blue fire peered in the darkness and burned into Gabrielle's soul. The woman felt Xena's body shift, pressing close. Their legs were entwined and breasts nuzzled each other.

Xena's responded with a kiss that made Gabrielle's bones feel like liquid. "I know," she whispered hotly against a pointed ear, "That's why I woke you." Then she kissed her lover again and pulled away. The loss was physically painful to Gabrielle, but she sighed in relief. The warrior deliberately slid a finger along a horned length, "Oh, don't think this is over, my love." Gabrielle's heart lurched. "It's not over by a long shot. I intend to have all of you, Gabrielle." The Tartaran's skin rippled in response to her name. "All," kiss, "of," kiss, "you." Kiss. "You can't avoid this forever." The bard turned demon didn't have to see Xena's face to know how serious she was. Gabrielle whimpered, but their legs slid apart and the warrior rolled away.

Gabrielle. . .No. . Izzy. .spoke, "Xena, you don't understand. You don't realize. . ."

The Tartaran saw Xena fling the covers off, "I understand more than you realize Gabrielle." The Amazon chieftess had been very revealing.

"Don't call me that." Izzy didn't mean to sound so abrupt. "In public," she amended. It was, after all, Xena's privilege. They were mates. Izzy stood up. "I mean it, Xena, there are things you don't know." She lifted the torch, and then with a deliberate motion, blew upon it. The torch flickered with life. "I. . ."

"You," the warrior interupted pointed, "Do not scare me." Actually, that wasn't quite true. She experienced a fear in regard to Gabrielle. Fear she wouldn't be able to reach past what Gabrielle had become to the woman's heart. But Damned if she'd let the Tartaran know that. And she had broken through last night. Hadn't she? Xena took a closer look at Izzy's face. There was a softness in the Tartaran's gaze which the warrior recognized. Yes. She had. Now it was just a matter of having Gabrielle accept it. Accept. .all of it.

Xena would just have to show her the way, that's all.

Xena was pulling on her leathers, "You're not going to frighten me away." (Xena had been through her own Tartarus. She'd seen Hell before.) She stuck her foot in her boot. She was very glad she'd thought ahead and placed her gear in one place. "Nor am I going to desert you now that I've found you." (Gabrielle. . .oh Gabrielle.) The other boot slid on. She looked up at the Tartaran, "I love you, I'm not going anywhere." (No, she was going to use every advantage she had; including this crazy hyped up sex drive.) Xena smirked, "Other than *with* you." She buckled on her breastplate. "You are just going to have to deal with it." Xena smiled a winner's smile and then spread her arm to the cave's entrance, "After you. . .Izzy."

They met up with the others not long after, but Izzy didn't say much.


	34. Chapter 34

The muck was thigh high on Salmoneus and he had to say he wasn't enjoying the walk through the swamp. "You're sure this is the quickest route?"

Penho carefully pushed a frond to the side, "Not the quickest, not really the safest, but" She turned and smiled at him wickedly, "Unless you like being treated as lunch meat. . ." she let the words trail off. Melosa seemed to glide through the water. Her lover, Oriena, was holding her crossbow above water. Their skirts were soaked and the blonde was looking particularly grim.

She was sure she'd just felt a nibbling at her ankles. Oriena didn't like it, though Izzy had said the predators were asleep this time of day. Nibbles in Tartarus, unless delivered by Melosa, just didn't seem like a good thing.

Sal flicked a bit of swamp weed from his beard, "No. No thank you. I'll keep walking." Splish, "Slogging, I mean." Penho gave him a delicious grin and pressed him forward.

"Just wait until I get you alone, I'll make it up to you." she purred as he passed by. He felt something stroke along his backside and gave her a startled look. Both hands were where he could see them. There was another pat, "Move along, Sal, we haven't got all day."

The merchant grinned and sloshed forward. Now he had motivation to continue on.

The daggite who was some distance ahead made another of its gigantic leaps, landing ungracefully on a tiny piece of dry ground. It clawed its way up, and stood precariously, looking for its next dry bit. There weren't that many. She'd missed a couple of times and had to paddle (unhappily) in the smelly water. Now Tok was uncomfortably caught by leaffy fronds that seemed too pull tighter, the more she tried to wrestle free. She howlwhined to Izzy. The expression on her face was pitiful. Izzy moved forward quickly.

Marcus who'd been through stuff like this before, though not necessarily on Tartarus, remained stoic. He seemed to blend into the background, making little sound, save for small ripples as he moved. He smiled at Perdicus who was trying to follow his example. They both looked a lot less tired than earlier and they stayed close to each other.

Xena also moved with little sound through the murky dank liquid. She was just glad her sword was dry, though she hated having to do this in her leathers. She stayed close to front with Izzy. "How soon?" she asked impatiently.

"Soon," the red Tartaran said. "I just want to get us around their territory. I'm not feeling like dealing with those bitches today."

"mm." Xena responded. She could understand that. They moved in relative silence. Xena heard the fish passing by and hoped they were fishies. She couldn't believe she was about to do this, but. . .,"want to play twenty questions."

Izzy stopped abruptly. "What?" She goggled at Xena. The warrior moved past her.

"You heard me," Xena said, keeping her expression neutral. "Twenty questions."

The redhead twohorned woman stared at Xena, then shook her head. She couldn't help the grin that crossed her face. "Animal, Vegatable or Mineral."

Xena smiled, dragged her sword from its sheath and hacked at a plant, "Oh, Animal, definitely."

Izzy felt something familiar warm within her. It felt. . .right. ..good. "Two footer or Four?" She moved to help Xena hack and physically pushed back the greenery that was in their way.

Xena grinned, "Two." The grass stain would come off later. The daggite whuffled against Xena's hair gratefully and shook out its disentangled tail. Xena patted its head, gently stroking its horns. The daggite purred and leaned against the mate of her mistress. She wuffled her again. Then Tok began looking around for high dry ground.

"Is it an Amazon?" Izzy started in on the game with a twinkle in her eye. She was going to win this round. She just knew it. Xena smiled.


	35. Chapter 35

Izzy was very careful in her guidance through second level. In a way, this level was the easiest to get through because there was so much dead space and *most* of the creatures to be feared were nocturnal. This is why she hurried her tribesmates, through the territories. The night creatures had some very nasty habits, not all of which ended with the death of their victims. She didn't fancy finding out how well Elysians adapted to being in pieces or having fangs. She also didn't really want to have to deal with the denizens of third level, since their blood was acidic and deadly, but at least. . .most of them. .. were visible.

She was grateful for Tok's presence. She could see on levels that none of the others, even Penho could, but that didn't mean she didn't appreciate the wild creature's ability to perceive and interact with its environment. The daggite stayed "close" to her on dry land. It would brush up against her or Xena, then wander out to investigate a scent or run ahead, then come back again to check status quo. It got a lot of petting that way. She watched the daggite as carefully as she watched everything else around her. She categorized the rustles of the grasses. They'd killed several dumbunnies this level already.

"There's a settlement we should be able to stay at, ahead." The guide informed Melosa during one of their rest periods. The Amazon queen listened quietly, with her arms folded. Her legs were marked with a few red spots where swamp creatures had attached themselves.

They all had such marks. Oriena had been most unhappy. She hadn't been reassured at all by Penho's casual and friendly, "At least you're not dead," statement. The blonde had hated leeches on Earth. She hated those creatures on Tartarus. Penho had just joked, "Well, everyone has their own personal Tartarus down here."

Melosa asked, "We'll make it by nightfall?"

Izzy pointed with the tuft of brown grass she'd been chewing on. It soothed her stomach, "Sooner. We're making good time. We keep avoiding trouble, we'll be there before the sky turns twilight."

Melosa had just hmmphed at that. She turned to walk away, towards her lover then stopped. She looked back at Izzy, "Why did you stop?"

Izzy brushed her belly with her hand. The texture was different with the way her skin folded in and out. She took the tuft of grass from her mouth, "We needed rest." Melosa moved back towards the Tartaran, "I don't mean that. I mean, the temples. Why'd you quit?"

The demoness looked up at the rust colored sky then back into concerned brown eyes. "There was no point, Melosa. Artemis never came, not when I needed her. Everyone was right." All that effort. She'd hoped that it would forstall the changes, And then. .to go through the change. . .*all* those changes anyway. It had been as if she'd been pushed. The thought made the demon grim with anger.

Melosa, greatly daring, touched a large forearm. "Are you so sure about that?" she asked.

Izzy pulled away as if burned, "Oh, I'm sure." There was a ringing in the demons' ears and a pain in her chest. Melosa let her hand drop. She looked directly at the young woman.

"I know," Melosa was very careful, "Izzy. I know." Izzy felt as if her heart were being pierced. "Artemis knows."

"Well *she* can just," Izzy started to growl out an opinion, but she felt a presence come up behind her, touch her, soothe her.

"What did Artemis charge you with Melosa?" Xena asked. She sniffed the air. If she wasn't mistaken, there was going to be rain. Lots of it.

"Rebuilding her temples."

"In exchange for?"

"Finding my sister, renewing the Amazons, providing," she looked directly at Izzy, "divine aide to this world." She looked at the row of dumbunnies, "She is the mistress of the hunt. She could help."

"She wants worship? She won't find much here." Izzy spat upon the ground. Ha. Here Izzy was a . . .no. . .don't go there. . .yet. They would find out soon enough, if they were so dead set on making this trip. Damn she was being stupid, traipsing them through the safelands. She should just drag them through. . .no. ..the warm presence besides her reminded her why. .No. .There were good reasons. One of which held the key to her heart.

Melosa felt a wounding for her young successor. "No. She doesn't want worship. Though it couldn't hurt. She just. . ." Melosa felt a loss of words at the pulsing anger that emanated from the Tartaran, "She wants to.. . ."

Oriena came up behind her mate,"Bring us back together, to bring her Amazons back. If we are strong here, we will be strong there."

Izzy sneered and stepped away, "Whatever." She whistled for Tok, "I'm just the tour guide. We'll go where you want to go. You want temples. Fine. You'll get them." She grinned, showing Melosa teeth that had killed before. "Just won't guarantee the results."

"I don't need the guarantees. I just need to get there. All I have to do is to take care of the temples." . . .which you built Izzy. . .you were on the right track. . .*She* was there. . for all of it. . .

"You're gonna be here a long time, Melosa." The red demon spoke from experience. She twisted her foot in the ground and killed a colorful beetle with out thinking about it.

The Amazon queen smiled grimly, "What else better have I got to do?" Melosa hadn't told Izzy everything. There was plenty more. The rest would come later.


	36. Chapter 36

It was a city unlike any they had seen before. Once past the fortifications most members of the tribe were looking about themselves with awe. Crystalline towers blended with rounded, mushroom shaped buildings (at least from the front) which seemed had been carved into the bowl shape of an exVolcano's interior. Xena liked it, though she didn't show it.

She was surprised at how beautiful the city was. It was clean. Amazingly clean. There were small, flat creatures that wandered the pathways. They avoided the feet of the bipedals, but skimmed under wheels and Tok's feet without so much as pausing. Tok sniffed moved to sniff at one of the creatures, following it for a bit until Izzy called her back. The creatures, whose rock colored hides seemed to blend in with where they hovered, darted in swift circular motions that were an odd mix of soothing and disturbing. She quit looking at them when she realized they were harmless.

She noticed that there were live trees, shrubs. . The ground cover was bluegreen, but trim. She'd never seen anything like that within a city, but she liked it. Usually it was just houses and merchanters with a few potted plants. It was. . .different, but nice. The pathways were paved and there was a center road that was mostly empty, save for a few strigers, some wagons and their riders. While citizens wore weaponry, there seemed to a common geniality to their expressions. Not that they were. .. friendly, just not hostile. There were more humans than Xena had expected, but fewer than on the first level.

What made her mind whirl, however, were the greetings that her lover had been receiving since they'd arrived. The guards had practically fallen over themselves in an effort to open the gates. As they walked, the pedestrians, the stall owners, whoever, would give her a slight bow or nod.

Izzy would sometimes nod back, though she didn't bow. Xena noticed that.

Izzy didn't bow. She walked tall, with Tok by her side. Her tail bounced with her walk, tip pointed up. While there wasn't exactly a smile upon her lips, she didn't look quite as grim as she had been all day. In fact, those muscular shoulders had lowered a little and there was a confident sway to her hips that suddenly reminded Xena of the pressure of having all these Tartarans around. The warrior had even caught herself lickbiting her lower lip.

As soon as she'd realized what she had done, Xena immediately shifted her expression to that "too tough for you," look that she'd mastered a LONG time ago. She even added the swagger for good measure. But that didn't stop the pleasant buzz of desire from thrilling from her center.

They took paths that weren't exactly on the center. They were following the backways. There would be more traffic otherwise. Izzy was obviously leading them someplace specific. Xena expected it was another inn. They'd passed several likely places already. They appeared as clean as the rest of the city. Izzy hadn't even paused. Maybe the price was too high?

It reminded Xena of who knew her way around this world. Who'd walked, as she'd always walked, the face of the land. It made her uncomfortable, since she was so used to being the one who knew, the one who could walk into a place and know instantly where the best places to stay were. The safest, the least. When they'd had dinars she never skimped. They were used to living rough and it was good to rest in a bed once in a while. She wanted give Gabrielle the best, whenever she could. And when they'd no dinars at all, they'd stay in the stables with Argo or camp out. She tried to make things as nice as possible, but it didn't' matter as long as they were with each other.

She missed that feeling. OH, she knew Izzy loved her. She could feel it every time the woman looked at her. She knew the desire was there too. It was the ...camaraderie ...that she longed for. They'd almost had the ease of it earlier, when they'd played twenty questions, but that sense of friendship had seemed to vanish the closer they'd come to Tilpurca.

She wondered how many times she'd done that to Gabrielle. How many times, in the interest of "safety," she'd distanced herself. She didn't like the feeling at all. And she was disgusted that it seemed like they were back at square one.

Patience in war was one of her virtues. She tried to remember that it applied to everything else. That, and sneakiness.

Okay, so . . .what would Gabrielle do?

She'd talk.

Xena sighed inwardly, but considered. Then she tried. "So are we going some place specific or are we just walking?" The impatience of her desire got the better of her.

OH that was good. Sound just as peevish and desperate as you feel, Xena. Yep. Xena regretted the words as soon as they were out of her mouth. Now she remembered why it had taken her so long to do the "sensitive," chats.

Izzy looked a little startled and turned. Then she'd looked really hard at Xena, which put the warrior on the defensive despite herself. Then, Izzy's lips had curled up into an understanding smile and she'd reached over, as casual as you please draped her tail around Xena's waist. The touch sent rivers of desire through the warrior and she fought against leaning.

Izzy's tail twitched and she gave Xena an apologetic look and a squeeze. It made the warrior feel off center, different, but in a nice way. "Yes," she said and looked at the rest of the group, including them into the conversation, "yes. I'm taking you to an inn I know of."

She let go of Xena, knowing the warrior liked her space. "It's pretty nice, I think."

In the back of the group, Penho tried not to snicker. Salmoneus gave her a curious look. She just shook her head and whispered something to him. Xena narrowed her eyes.

"mmhmm," the warrior said. She knew something was up now, but she wasn't sure what.

"Trust me." Izzy said the words firmly, laying a gentle hand on Xena's shoulder. Oh Gods. Xena looked at her lover with a mixture of desperation, need and anger. "It'll be soon."

What else could she do. The warrior nodded and hissed through her teeth, "It'd damn well better be. How do people stand this?"

Izzy whispered back, "You get used to it. Eventually." She'd been through this. She really did understand. "It evens out." She traced Xena's cheek with a fingertip. The claw was retracted, but the smooth feel of flesh against flesh. ..oh. .This time Xena did lean, letting the power of it claim her.

She'd been doing so well too. What was making this different.

Izzy.

"Your feeling it too?" The Tartaran nodded solemnly. That's when it clicked. This was what Izzy was feeling. .the day before. . .oh. "Well, hurry it up will ya." She whispered fervently.

Gabrielle grinned at her. Yes, that was definitely Gabrielle's smile. Then she'd directed Xena's attention to a domed building. There was a sign. "The Storyteller's Inn." Xena blinked, then narrowed her gaze at the Tartaran. Izzy just continued that wide pointy grin of hers. "Race ya!"

"Ready, set, . .." Izzy cheated and took three bounding steps. The clatter of armor and boots indicated she was being followed. Xena grinned and took three paces of her own and vaulted into the skies with that ulating cry of hers.

She landed in front of Izzy, two steps before she could reach the Inn's entrance. The red Tartaran looked stunned, then grinned happily, "One of these days," she said, "You are going to *have* to show me how you do that!"

Then she took them inside her inn.


	37. Chapter 37

Izzy's quarters were bright and cheerful, even with the curtains drawn. Xena didn't pause long to examine the place in detail. She stripped from her armor, letting it clunk onto the polished surface of a low table. The fruit bowl rattled. Her leather landed on some cushy sloped chair with a thump. The Tartaran's kilt landed on top, after a surprised, "Hey!!" sparkled from her lips. Anymore she had to say was turned completely into a helpless moan.

"Xena," she panted. "I . ..can't it. . oooh."

"Now."

Xena's tone of voice brooked no argument and the bed seemed miles away though it was well within sight. The bed was huge, made for the average Tartaran's height, up to fourth level that is. (After that, things got. . .bigger. ) The coverlet was a rainbow quilted affair. The pillows were plump and inviting.

Xena's fingers were already making dangerous trails through Izzy's curls. She intended to have her lover and while she'd had some plans earlier about taking her time, her body was insistent that this was not to be the case. Those plans, which involved exciting and stimulating Izzy's horns until she gave up at least one of her secrets, had to be put away for the moment. She said, "now," and she meant NOW!

Izzy's powerful arms wrapped around and under the warrior's hips. She lifted and muscular thighs carried them. Quickly.

In seconds, they were on the bed and loving.

*************************** Salmoneus could not believe the luck. The manager had been so overwhelmingly gracious to them. .. after he saw Izzy. Before that, well, the Tartaran had braced them with some nasty attitude. Now Sal was in this gorgeous (albeit Tartaran) woman, in a gorgeous (albeit Tartaran) room on a very very (BIG) comfortable bed.

She was in him too. Interesting what could be done with that tail. He liked it. He more than liked it. She was touching him in places he'd never been touched before and she was gentle and wild and it felt so good.

He reached up, meaning only to touch her hair, to caress its soft white silken curly length. She moaned against him. The back of his hand brushed a horn. The natural thing to do was grasp it, so he did. She gasped and stopped moving. Then she looked at him, "Better be careful Sal, you don't know what you're gonna get."

"If it's you," he said gallantly, "then I want it." He smiled sweetly. She tugged his beard. He stroked her horn lightly.

She grinned wickedly, "Alright then, but remember, I warned you." Then she pulled out of him (to his disappointment) and began teaching him a thing or two about Tartarans.

************************* Marcus slid into the steaming water and sighed. His muscles ached from all that marching around and he wanted to take advantage of the quiet while he could. The howling time would be happening soon and he wanted to be as comfortable as possible before hand. Perdicus smiled at him. He sat on the other side of the tub.

"You look comfortable," the exmercenary said. He noticed how pink the farmer's skin was becoming. The Elysian gave him a sultry gaze and a loose smile then floated himself in the warriors direction.

"I bet that we can get even more comfortable," Perdicus said. Then their mouths touched and lingered together.

*************************

Melosa stalked around the room like a trapped panther. Her blonde lover, already bathed and comfortable, lay on the bed reading one of the scrolls from the ornate shelf. "At least take a bath," she said to her Queen. Melosa had responded with something between a snarl and a hmphf. "You'll feel better."

Melosa stopped pacing, "I doubt that."

"It's heated water, straight from. ...wherever it comes from. Fills the tub right up." She set the scroll down, noting the title in her mind. "Why don't you let me run the bath for you," she smiled gently at her lover.

Oriena really did feel better. She stood up from the bed in one swift movement. Her breasts swayed gently. Her limbs were parted for the stance. The light caught the sweetness of her golden triangle just right.

Melosa turned, intending to snap at her lover, but she stared instead. The Amazon queen swallowed, then she started stripping. "I think I will have that bath." She paused and looked at her lover tenderly, "but will you join me?"

Oriena smiled and forgot about the scroll.

**************************

Tok lay at the door's entryway, snoozing. Its chest rose and fell comfortably. Tok's head was between her paws. The wet sliding sounds of lovemaking could be heard and that sweet scent of sex was in the air.

She ignored it and dreamed of fields of dumbunnies for the catching.

**************************

There was something about Izzy being between her legs, lapping at her with delicious intensity that made Xena quiver. Her legs were fanned open as the warrior arched herself towards that long skilled tongue. Her hands reached, just to touch, to confirm that she wasn't just dreaming. "Gabrielle," she moaned. Her hands brushed against the sensitive surface of the horns. Then grasped as a particularly good stroke of the tongue threatened to take her over the edge and did. "Oh Gods." She held on through the orgasm, gripping and ungripping.

She felt Izzy's shudder. The Tartaran lifted her head and looked at the warrior with desperate eyes, "Please."

Let go. That was what the rest of the sentence could have been. "No," said Xena, understanding. There would be no running away this time, no turning away.

"Please." Helpless.

Xena shook her head, and scooched forward, dragging the Tartaran (gently) up to face her. She stroked Gabrielle's horns, milking their surface with a strong grip. The redhead moaned and tried to move away.

Xena held on to one of the horns and moved her hand down. Down to Izzy's breast, which she touched lightly. Down her ribcage. Down to where curls covered a hidden place. She lay her palm flat over Izzy's triangle of fur, gently rubbing the top, feeling. She kissed her lover, deeply fully. "No." Gently said.

Izzy moaned, truly moaned, desperately moaned. She pressed against Xena's hand and retreated or tried to. The hand followed and she couldn't resist how good it felt, how sweet it felt to have the warrior stroking her horn. "Please." This time Gabrielle meant something different.

Xena heard it and pressed against her lover, "Yes."

Gabrielle felt the shudder before she could stop it, control it. It rocked through her whole body. It was sweet and cataclysmic. She cried out, honestly cried out as her whole body thrilled with deep deep pleasure. She'd forgotten how good this could be.

Xena kept her hand pressed against the pubic bone. A finger lightly tickled the jewel of the bard's center, egging on the multifaceted bliss from both ends. The bard shuddered and gasped and Xena felt the lubrication of the Tartaran's desire slick itself against her finger.

When the orgasms were over, Izzy fell back, open, stunned, vulnerable. She looked at Xena, who gazed at her with understanding eyes. "Please," Xena said, not begging, but asking. She moved her fingers up, lightly, spreading her fingers through warm curls, searching. She found it, the line. She'd felt it before, but had thought it an odd bumpy scar. A sensitive one.

Now she knew differently.

Gabrielle blinked at her and breathed heavily. Xena touched her face with gentle kisses and stroked a finger along a sweet hidden line. "Please, trust me." There was a pause in Gabrielle's breathing as she looked up into her lover's blue blue eyes. This was the woman she loved. This woman had saved her life more times than she could count. This was

"Xena." It was a gasp, an affirmation, a surrender. Gabrielle looked back at her warrior with total trust in her eyes. Xena, who'd just kept on stroking that line felt something move, slide. Her finger dipped, without her pressing. It was caught in a moist opening. The bard, the Tartaran groaned, pressing up to Xena's hand. The pouch folded back and Xena's palm moved in and covered.

She looked up in startlement at Gabrielle. She nearly said it. She nearly said it. She knew if she did she'd ruin everything. Everything. She could predict that future.

So Xena kept her mouth shut and gently held the woman in her hand.

Izzy tried to explain, "Everyone's. .different." She felt vulnerable and scared. She would have pulled away but there was nowhere to go to. "The horns. .they feel good by themselves. .They aren't the cause, but. .I. ." She blushed a bright bright crimson, "It helps me relax enough, when I'm with someone else. . .. I didn't. .I was. ." She looked at Xena with frightened eyes, "I've never used it. I. . Mean, with anyone else. .I . .couldn't . .It just. .didn't feel.. ." If it were possible for her to go a deeper color of red, she did, "I mean, I've. .yes. .I . ." There were memories of self explorations, when she'd first learned of the possibilities. It had frightened and confused her, but it felt so good; so incredibly good. She closed her eyes when she felt Xena pull along her length. "Its. . ." Words failed.

Xena shushed her and brought her other palm to Gabrielle's face. She kissed her lover gently, lovingly. "Shhh," she soothed, "I understand." The Tartaran shuddered against her. Xena's grip was warm, strong, and felt so right; so incredibly right. "We'll do this together."


	38. Chapter 38

The bed covers moved with the rhythm of Gabrielle's breathing. Her long length filled the bed. Her tail peaked out the side. She clutched a pillow to her body, holding it as if it were Xena. Her red fingers pressed against the fabric delicately. The nails were retracted to reasonable short length. In repose, her expression was angelic, almost harmless, except for the pair of pointed teeth that nakedly exposed themselves with in her slumber.

Xena padded quietly around the suite, followed by Tok's gentle click clack. When she paused, the daggite would sit and pant happily at her, swishing its pointed tale and observing every action. The warrior found in her short self guided tour several things to intrigue her. There was the ever cold cubby, which contained a bonanza of food. Xena had grinned hugely at that find and had helped herself. Then there was the bathing room, which she also took advantage of. The sitting room had what seemed to be boardgames, and other entertainments. She would ask Gabrielle what the glass box was for later. Then she found the library and that occupied her attention for a good while.

She recognized it by the rows of scrolls kept neatly encased against the wall, but there were leather bound items that reminded her of the great book the green gnome was using to keep his ledgers. She noted the desk, which held funny looking quills and scrolls and huge rolled leather cannisters that reminded her largely of maps.

She took the chance and silently opened a case, then the scroll itself. It was a very carefully crafted map of what looked to be the entire third level. Xena looked at the daggite, who looked patiently back and thumped its tale against the floor. She couldn't help herself, "You're mommy has been one busy Tartaran." Tok just grinned back and whuffled a little. The dark woman gathered several map cases and a few likely scrolls into her arms and strolled out into the main room. The daggite looked questioningly at her. She smiled down and whispered, "Time to learn a bit more about Tartarus, hmm."

"Nerph." The daggite responded, shaking her head vigorously. She stood up lazily. Then the daggite trailed after her in seeming comfort.

Xena couldn't tell if that were a reproof or not, but she found as time went on that with the command of, "Stay," Tok made an excellent, if a bit bored, scrollweight.

Xena was sprawled upon the softly plush floor. She was naked, save for the open green silk robe which covered her backside. The robe was hitched up past mid thigh and rather than hiding anything, accentuated every nook and curve. Xena was bracing herself on one elbow, while the other arm seemed to be tracing across wide expanse of the scroll. Her feet moved lazily in the air. There was a bowl of fruit besides her. The nonmoving hand held one of the roundish giant "redberries" of Tartarus. The warrior had obviously made some serious headway in its consumption. There were several smaller scrolls scattered about. Some were opened. Some were not. There was a massive leather bound tome, which Xena seemed to be reading with quick understanding as she flipped from page to page.

Tok, whose head had been resting upon her forepaws, gave Gabrielle a "save me!," look. The Tartaran grinned despite herself and quickly settled besides Xena, resting her hand on the curve of Xena's lower back and grabbing a bit of fruit for herself. "Whatcha doing?" She asked curiously though she could guess. It was her own handwriting after all.

Xena angled herself up on her elbow and turned carefully so the juice of the fruit wouldn't stain the scroll. She smiled toothily, "I'm plotting how to take over Tartarus."

Gabrielle, who was also Izacon - a strong but reluctant contender for ruler of the nine hells, choked on the berry.


	39. Chapter 39

Gabrielle explained for the third time, her white fangs catching the glimmer of the dawn's early red light, how complicated things really were for the Tartarans. She was glad Xena had been joking, or so Xena had said as she'd slapped the red woman's back. The Tartaran had decided to take Xena at face value because she couldn't seriously be considering trying to win over the whole of Tartarus. It would be too hard. There were too many factors involved. Right?

Xena looked beautiful, her skin glimmering bronze and perfect and her expression peaceful. She hardly seemed warlike at all, at that moment. But, the warrior listened very carefully, noting the important names, the references, catagorizing them as important or not. She could feel that Gabrielle hadn't told her everything. She memorized them in an instant, much the same way she'd understood and memorized the maps and the scrolls she'd pickedup. If she needed, Xena could find her way around the nine levels, make contacts even,....if she kept her head.

Tok looked bored, but kept her position as paperweight, trusting that she would be free soon. She thought of whining, but changed her mind when she felt the soft pressure of Izzy's caress. Then she started to purr contentedly.

The politics were hell, Gabrielle informed Xena. There were so many different kinds of Tartarans that the bard despaired of cataloging them all. There were bigwigs on each level and some that had control over portions of each of them. There was a tiny beginnings of a coalition that she was part of, but that small alliance of roaming "friends," could snap at any moment depending on the moodswings that overtook the Tartarans.

Gabrielle shared her theory that Tartarus was possibly a ring of worlds, tied together through portals and passageways. She said, "I'd been watching the stars at night, and one day I realized they changed from level to level." She still hadn't explored the full of them, just portions. She couldn't explain why the Tartaran's changed. She only knew that they started out Human and became....what they were.

Xena absorbed each word and nuance, weighing them in her mind. She'd not been serious at first, truly, but the more she listened to Gabrielle Izacon, the more convinced the exwarlord was, deep in her gut, that she was looking at the next ruler of Tartarus. A very reluctant ruler, but competent. Xena didn't even bother imagining herself in the position. The humility and knowledge that were the bard's essence were what made Gabrielle perfect for the job, but the red hued Tartaran made it clear, "There's no way I'd try for it. There are so many others who want it, who've tried for it. I don't want it. I like what I do. I mean.. I know I'll never leave, but.. I have a good life. Besides, I know I couldn't do it alone."

Xena had smiled understandingly, her eyes sparkling a tease, "Yes, but you're not alone any more, are you?" Gabrielle Izacon reeled back as if she'd been slapped in the face. Then Xena, to get the bard breathing again, had said something innocuous. "Well, we've got to much to do in the meanwhile," she soothed. Yes, ...like find out who the players were, who would be loyal to Izacon, inform Melosa, get input, and start thinking on different levels. ...if what Gabrielle said was true. ..Different worlds meant different strategies, right..Thinking about this, dealing on this little problem... would buy her time to work on Gabrielle, and it would help Melosa with her temple building, ...Xena smiled reassuringly, "so I wouldn't worry about it."

For some reason, Gabrielle worried anyway.


	40. Chapter 40

Given the earlier topic of conversation, it probably shouldn't have been a surprise to walk down those stairs and see a familiar hated face.  
He stood, laconically, but much too aware for that really to be the case, at the center of the bar. His long stringy black hair dripped down his shoulders. His mustache slid down the crevices of his face. Fangs and horns were to be expected among Tartarans, but his fair skin and short height was unusual and spoke of an earlier, staged transition. The coloration, and the collar around his neck gave him a rank.

Among those who'd suffered through the transition, He wasn't considered a *real* Tartaran. His changes had been created for the people upstairs. No, He was a lackey, transformed early in his humanity, by one of the upper echelons. Which made him both someone to be feared, watched or respected, depending on who he worked for. In his case, it was an odd mix of all three. Most who were present in the bar ignored him, or pretended to. Even the two practitioners of the erotic trade kept to their own. It was too easy to get burned by a demon spy.

He wore a suit that was unfamiliar to Xena, sleek pinstriped pants and jacket, white shirt and tie. The only thing naked were his face, hands and feet. She'd rather not have seen any of it. At his side upon the bar rested an open, but slim case. He seemed to have flattened scrolls in there. He was reading a book.

Xena's powerful hand reached down for the golden ring of her Chakram, but a whisper in her ear stopped her. She felt Gabrielle Izacon's warming presence behind her and almost leaned into it. Almost.

Gabrielle was right, best not to give into emotion here. She would find out what the bastard wanted, then carve him until there was nothing left. The warrior princess smiled ferally and took the last step, with her lover close behind.

The servant had noticed them immediately. His brown eyes traced their path. He finally moved from his position, dropping the paperwork into the attache case and slapping the lid down. Then he grabbed it, firmly, and sauntered over to the main table. When he arrived, they were seated, touching, but not clinging.

"Ah, Izacon, it is good to see you again." His voice oiled over them as he bowed. As he righted himself, he noted that the Tartaran had summoned a seat as well as waiter. He ignored the warrior at Izzy's side, and sat. If she wanted trouble, as her expression said, he could provide it. His business, however, was with the one who'd traveled the nine hells. The case was placed carefully upon the floor.

Izzy nodded her head graciously, "Will you have tea with us, Master Krafstar." She crooked three fingers at the waiter, who nodded. It hadn't really been a choice she was offering. The servant accepted, his gaze taking in the new markings upon Izacon's body. He couldn't help the words that flowed out of his mouth, "You've mated!" Well, this blew a few plans.... He struggled to recover his aplomb, though he wasn't too worried about his dignity. He'd given that up a long time ago.

Izzy's teeth flashed white. She stroked a hand possessively along Xena's thigh. The only reason the shiver wasn't visible was the warrior's iron control. "Yes. Krafstar, meet Xena."

The blue eyed warrior's voice was all ice, "We've met."

Krafstar tried not to say anything, deeming it the wiser of two courses. His liege would be most unhappy if the servant arrived back in pieces. He waited the heartbeats that it took for the red tea to be poured, lifted the cup, sipped and set it down. Then he smiled amicably, "Congratulations to you both, though it is a surprise." His accent thickened, as he turned his attention to the warrior who'd defeated him. "I thought you were with the Betrayer."

She didn't even flinch. Xena's lips curled, "Things change." Her gaze flickered to Izacon and then back, "I changed." Izzy buttered her toast and watched the interchange with the appearance of mild disinterest. Xena reached for her own cup of tea and it seemed as if her shoulders relaxed. "Have you?" she asked over the rim of the cup. All he could see were her eyes as they sparkled mysteriously in the light.

"Some," he acknowledged with a shrug, "One can't help it around here." While he couldn't avoid the stare, he could feel the tension leave from it. Now she watched him with curiosity, rather than evil intent. Or so it seemed.

There was a crunch, and Izzy chewed happily, seeming oblivious. Krafstar wondered how they met, then set it aside. It didn't matter. His purposes were still the same.

She finished her swallow, and pulled a ripe fruit from the basket. The light of the risen sun lay gold upon her crimson hand. Her long fingernails punctured the fruit, making it bleed sweet liquid. "So why are you here?" she asked with lazy interest. It was apparent that she'd been well satisfied with this surprising match. Satisfaction meant better negotiations. Perhaps this...mating..could work in his favor. Though there was Xena to consider. She was Dahok's sworn enemy....Would she sway Izacon away or toward....Perhaps, he could feed her need for vengeance...

Krafstar placed his elbows on the table, leaned and steepled his fingers. Izzy nibbled at her lunch as he spoke. He kept his voice even, "My liege wishes an alliance with you and offers his daughter, Hope, as..." Here is where it got tricky, "...a companion to you." The only reason the tea cup in Xena's hand didn't shatter, is that she set it very carefully upon the table. Her expression started to darken and she started to rise out of her chair. She felt a pressure, strong and immovable, upon her thigh. Izzy's hand held her down. She looked up at her lover, preparing to have words. Xena's voice was disarmed, however, by the Tartaran's amused expression.

"Now what would *I* want with Dahok's half-mortal?" Izzy asked derisively. Her eyes sparkled dangerously, "Do I not have enough of a prize here, in the legendary Xena: Destroyer of Nations?" Her hand left off marking Xena's thigh, and lifted to serenely and affectionately stroke the brave woman's cheek. "I have a companion in my mate. I do not need another."

Krafstar nodded, "Perhaps companionship is the wrong word. He offers Hope, his favored and only daughter to you so you may know of his good will and seal a bargain between you."

Izzy's tail flicked restlessly. Xena's expression had turned from hostility to deep thoughtfulness. The warrior's silken voice interrupted whatever Krafstar was about to add. "Why?" She leaned forward, now strategically interested, " How much of Tartarus does...your liege... control?" She was careful not to mention names...careful, though she knew. Krafstar pursed his lips, trying to determine just how much favor Xena had with Izzy. Just because they were mates didn't mean they liked each other. Then again, Xena was gazing at him with a predatory glance that he recognized. He could do business with this. "My liege, Dahok," he was very careful to pronounce the name, testing her. Xena's expression didn't change. He continued, treading carefully, "controls portions of..."

"Minuscule portions of..." Izzy corrected with a gleam in her eye. It was as if it were a great joke to her. To Krafstar however, it was very serious.

"Strategically important portions of Tartarus, upon seven levels." He corrected. Izzy nodded, but shrugged as if she didn't care. And she didn't. He knew it and couldn't understand it. But Xena cared. This he could see. Xena, a woman who'd conquered by sheer will alone, understood....but could she give up her hatred enough to make an alliance. He remembered all too well the cut that she'd made upon him...."And we have a," he paused looking meaningfully at Xena and Izacon, "common enemy. Perhaps you have heard of the Green Dragon?"

Xena leaned forward, all business. Her tea was forgotten and turned cold. "Tell me everything," she said. "I want to know it all."

Krafstar grinned despite himself. It seemed there was a way, after all.


	41. Chapter 41

Several candlemarks later an astonished Izacon was standing outside, huddled under a large multicolored umbrella, waiting for Hope. "This is Not going to work," Gabrielle muttered over the warrior's head. "I can't believe we're doing this." She wasn't completely cold, but she felt frigid wetness dribble down her back. It enhanced the uncomfortable sense of doom she felt. The gold ring around her irises was almost, but not completely gone and that worried her. One would think, given how amorous, how delicious Xena's loving had been, that Gabrielle would be completely satiated. Instead, she felt as if she were human again, quivering under a Tartaran's sensual spell, only this time, it was Xena. The sensation shattered Gabrielle's internal image of self control.

The proof was in the fact she was standing out here waiting for her *daughter.* "She almost almost killed your son, if you recall." If Gabrielle hadn't gone in to check on the children....Izacon shivered at the possibilities the thought conjured up. She was suddenly grateful for whatever prick of intuition had grabbed her prophetic heart...Sometimes it was good to know the future, even if it hurt. She'd walked in to find Hope trying to strangle Solan, and had struck the mentally occupied child from behind with her staff. It had been an unintentionally lethal and damning blow, killing her daughter, saving the young son of Xena, but condemning herself to Tartarus. If only she'd been honest with Xena in the first place, perhaps none of this would have happened.

But regrets were for the past. Xena was here now and in an odd twist of the fates, soon Hope would be also, to act as servant and ..technically speaking..consort. She supposed she could have said something to stop this, but the idea had been so ludicrous that she'd thought Xena was kidding.

Apparently not.

Gabrielle looked down on the warrior's hair, noting the shimmering texture. Her hand lifted of its own accord and she began to pet the warrior's scalp. Xena grunted an indecipherable response that sounded suspiciously like, "greater good."

She couldn't have said what Gabrielle *thought* she said. "Xena, how is this. . ."

The azure eyed woman turned and shushed the Tartaran. She nodded discreetly to the side. Gabrielle's expression changed, hardened and Izacon was suddenly looking at the warrior. Xena gazed at the Tartaran for a moment, letting the changes register in her head and filing that information away. Then she turned to greet the newest member of the tribe.

Izacon watched as if she didn't care whether she were present or not. Krafstar noted the hard boredom in her expression and looked to Xena. The warrior nodded at him. Her lips curled sensuously. The dealer bowed and pushed Hope forward.

The young woman's green eyes flashed angrily and her honey colored hair glimmered redly. She rasped out her greeting, however, with appropriate decorum, addressing both Xena and Izacon, "My father is pleased to join with your house." She bowed under the umbrella held up by Krafstar. The green silk of her gown showed off the sleek power of her body. She looked exactly like her mother. No one seemed to notice.

Xena strode towards Krafstar. She barely looked at Hope. "Well, since the Father isn't here, I'd hardly say *he's* joining our house. But our alliance," she nodded at the Tartaran spy, "will be honored." She held her hand out and Krafstar passed the warrior the key. "Tell Dahok, that," this time Xena's lips lifted sardonically, "we'll take good care of his little girl."

Krafstar nodded, and gave her an oily smile. "I'm sure he'll appreciate it."

Xena waved the long key meaningfully. Her eyebrow arched, "We'll meet you there."

The almost Tartaran bowed, then turned to Hope. Dahok's daughter smirked unhappily in his direction then looked away, turning her attention to the tall red Tartaran who watched her with hooded goldtinted eyes. Hope straightened her shoulders and was about to smile seductively when the Tartaran moved away.

The next thing she knew, the doublehorned demon towered over her. Izzy's hand was hot against the young woman's shoulder as she pushed Hope forward into the wet and towards the inn. "Get inside," The legendary Tartaran said roughly. Hope heard the comment from behind, "You'd think he'd have sent her in something practical." The rain was very cold against the half Tartaran's skin.

Xena's sultry voice carried despite the rain, "Izzy, he was just trying to impress you."

"Oh, he's made an impression alright...." Hope missed the rest of the comment as she sloshed past the door and stepped in front of the growling, antagonistic daggite. She halted abruptly. Her face took on a hunted expression. She tried to move, but the creature paced her and wouldn't let her forward. It was impervious to her mental manipulations, or so it seemed. She noted that there was a seated blue Amazon watching her with cold appreciation. The trihorned Tartaran lifted her cup lazily to her lips and drank with almost casual indifference. The other two Amazons, human, stood up. The dark one paced towards her, an intent look upon her face.

Hope felt the warmth of a presence behind her. The young woman looked up into the frigidly stern, slightly tumescent gaze of the Tartaran she'd been bequeathed to and shivered. Xena stepped up from the other side. The daggite quit growling at a given hand signal from Izacon. "Don't try anything funny," the warrior hissed into Hope's ear, "or I'll sick Tok on ya." Hope lifted her head regally, and hid the gulp.

"Chief Melosa," Izzy said, "may I introduce the newest member of our tribe." Hope was startled and looked at the Amazon. Tribe? But Izzy wasn't in charge? She looked at the Tartaran, who wasn't paying any attention to her. Hope had the sudden realization that maybe things might not go as her father planned.


	42. Chapter 42

So...I had an hours worth of text written and the software dies on me...(3 or so pages)

excuse me while I gnash my teeth.

\------------

Later, Oriena's words would come back to Melosa, during a moment of contemplation. It was a quick whispered observation, "She's nothing but a child."

Melosa had noted the words as odd, given the corporeal form of the young woman, but during the next few days she'd found a wisdom in them.

Hope was a child. A brutal, prideful, vengeful, seductive..child...In a grown woman's body. It was a deadly combination, no doubt planned by her father's will, which Hope clung to like a raft. The men had learned that right quick, what with Salmoneus' untimely demise. Hope had been shocked, positively shocked to see the salesman revive. She'd been even more shocked by Penho's vicious and thorough punishment. The bruises and stitches still covered the half god's body.

Tartaran's were a bit tougher than humans when it came to mental manipulations... They recovered easily from being slammed into a wall. Some of them even enjoyed it. That had served to make Penho angrier and more dangerous. Only Izacon's timely arrival had saved the young woman from being sent to the back of the line. She taken the young woman away, after soothing Penho, and had attended to the wounds herself...

Xena had said that there'd been no words spoken to Hope..just that Izacon had bathed and sewn the dangerous golden child up. Melosa imagined that the touches must have been different than any in Hope's experience, but she didn't know. All she knew as that Hope's expression had been so changed, for a few moments. Melosa was sure that Hope would have followed Izzy around like a puppy afterward...except the Tartaran had put her in Melosa's Amazonian care...Melosa wasn't sure that was a good thing..but..it wasn't her decision to make. She could only act as chieftess, not as the mother (or as Hope believed, as master).

Melosa tried to look for Gabrielle, past the appearances, but there didn't seem to be any of the mother in those emerald eyes. Dahak's will flashed in Hope's eyes, while Gabrielle's body walked and talked and (no doubt) schemed around them. But that scheming hadn't been too effective. Xena had been on the look out..and Melosa's tribe..had grown savvy.

Melosa was proud of the confusion her people held for the Tartaran. Izacon deferred to the Amazon's wishes and they'd stayed another set of days in town, so Melosa could visit the temple. That had set the demonic child back. She'd had to bow to Izacon's wishes..and apparently it was to do as Melosa said. The Amazon had dragged Hope along, wanting to keep the young woman within sight and out of Izacon's for awhile. Hope had been, of course, very unworshipful, but that would change...Melosa would see to it. Hope's will was created by her father.

Melosa's was created by herself.

Hope may have not been prepared to be part of the tribe, but she would become one...or else perish, no matter whose daughter she was.

Meanwhile, there was a storm brewing in the red Tartaran. Understandable..but dangerous in Melosa's view. The only thing holding Izacon to the group was the promise made to Hades, and her absolute need for Xena. Though, Melosa noted, Izacon had been pulling away (sometimes roughly) from Xena's touch. It was as if, despite their obvious need for each other, they were back to where they'd started from...The only difference was that while Izacon was back to her distant half social self..Xena was starting to become more aggressive...There had been at least two full out bar fights since Hope's arrival and while Xena's reputation was soaring among the general populous as a person to be reckoned with, their anonymity was disappearing quickly.

One of those barfights had been caused by an old Warlord rival of Xena's.

Not a good sign.

Not a good sign at all..

Melosa sighed and shifted in the bed. She looked to her lover who was sleeping peacefully, long blonde hair strewn upon the pillow. Gold for the touching. Oriena had been her rock, taking charge of managing the sneaky lookalike and keeping her busy with "chores," made up for Izacon's "servant." The kind of chores that blistered the hands and wearied the body, and saved many souls trouble. Bratbusters, Melosa liked to call them. Nothing like a good old fashioned Amazon stable cleaning to get rid of attitude and wipe out any notions of seduction. Tok had been invaluable as "Guard," and both Melosa and Xena had rewarded the daggite abundantly. At different times, of course. The daggite had been losing some of that sleek killer look, but not enough to give Hope any confidence to try anything.

Melosa decided, that despite the atrocious wet hide smell produced by the local breed of strigers, it had been well worth their effort to hire out the young woman. They'd made a small fortune that had paid, much to Izacon's consternation, for the supplies they would need to travel. It had also afforded the opportunity to get rid of those fancy robes and put her in something more befitting to travel.

Ironically, she looked more like her mother than ever. Well, when Gabrielle had looked like..Gabrielle.

Hope looked nothing like Izacon.

Melosa drew in a slow breath and considered that it was late. She turned, wrapped an arm around her lover, and curled against the mate of her heart. There would be time for thinking later, but now she was tired. How to solve a problem like Hope? Melosa sincerely hoped the God's knew, because all she could do was take it a day at time and tomorrow they would be traveling the Gorgon's path to the Stone Temple. There were priests there, Izzy had said. What kind, she'd not said. Melosa groaned slightly and shifted closer to Oriena, closing her eyes tight against the worries on her mind. Day was coming sooner than she liked.


	43. Chapter 43

Tok leered happily as she trotted besides the unhappy Striger burdened by Hope's presence. It was only the young woman's intent focus of control on the creature that kept the wooly smelly beast from breaking and galloping up the steep hill in fear of the sleek hunter. The feeling was one that Hope could relate to. She had the same impulse. One of her early lessons, when she'd come home having failed her father, was the "privilege" of watching a hunt of daggites do their carnivorous work. The screams of the kill as they were teased and then finally rended still disturbed her sleep, though she never would have admitted it. One did not have a weakness in front of her father, let alone show it.

An added burden was that Tok was like its peers. Izacon had said, "Guard." She'd not said anything about not having fun. So the cunning creature would sometimes slide under the striger's belly and nip, just to see it Jump or skitter to the side. Or else, Tok would seem to drift away, disappear, and then charge back in from out of nowhere. The striger's reaction made Tok hungry for blood, but the daggite knew better than to make a meal of the ride. Besides, Tok would get a better reward for doing what the pack leader commanded than not.

But Hope didn't know that. All she knew was that she was under the daggite's constant survellaince and that her opportunities to keep to her own business were few and far between. And thanks to the Amazons she'd had no time at all to contact her father, or rather, she'd been too tired....and sore.

At the moment, she was holding the reins loosely in her hands, letting her mind do all the hard work with the resistant striger. One would think it would be easy to control such a dumb animal, but like all Tartarans it had a natural protection against mental intrusion and Hope had to work all the harder to initiate and maintain her will over the creature. Izacon made it seem so easy.

Hope had observed her whispering in the strigers ears...and the creatures had been docile. All of them, except for hers. But then, Hope had said, oh so pridefully, "I can handle my own beast." Izacon had stepped back, and, as she'd bowed to Melosa's wishes, now she'd bowed to Hope's.

"Be sure it's worth it," Izacon had said. A subtle warning from lips too sweet to look upon and eyes grown suddenly cold. The baring of her teeth had caused an unrecognizable shiver down Hope's spine.

Fear? No, she feared her father?

Lust? No...she didn't think so. She'd dealt with lust before, and had satiated herself with the locals of her father's keep or her own hand.

She didn't know what it was.

All she knew was that she must handle it, as she was handling the beast under her. And so she was....so she was..and sweating about it too. Why did this have to be so difficult?

It had seemed like such a simple plan to get back into her father's good graces. Win Izacon's favor or dispose of her. Hope glaced at the glinting silver reflection of her ring, noting the green jewel that matched her eyes. It hid the cache of poison. One drop in the drink and...

Hope sighed.

She wasn't sure what she was going to do. There were times that she positively wanted to slay Izacon and other times...other times..when that unrecognizable shiver took over and made her feel unbearably....lonely. Needful. Longing.

The white of the bandages on her hands made the brown of the leather stand out. They'd hurt something ferocious the day before, but now her hands just throbbed dully and resisted when she tried to grip. Izacon's gentle, silent ministration had eased away the sharpness in her hands. In her mind, Hope could still see the way the Tartaran's brow creased in concentration as she'd lathered the young woman's hands. She remembered looking up and noting the way Xena's dark unreadable azure gaze seemed to pierce through to her core.

She didn't understand that either.

Hatred she'd expected, maybe even fear, but the dead didn't fear death the way mortals do. They only feared the pain....and Xena didn't seem to fear that during her mortal years, so ...

No...again, a puzzle. Xena had gazed at her with all the interest of one who'd made a bargain. One who would keep the prize healthy, until the reward was given. The alliance was made, not through Izacon's will, but through Hope's enemy. Xena.

Xena, the lover of Gabrielle, her Mother.

Where was her mother, if Xena was here when she should not be? Hadn't Dahok mourned that Xena had been sent to Elysia? So many cries that night, loud and painful. Not her own voice though.

Her own pain she kept silent. Hatred developed better that way, quiet and hidden until its fruition.

How could people love this..woman? This betrayer? Why hadn't Gabrielle loved her? Hope didn't understand it at all.

When Hope had asked, unintentionaly uncontrollably coldly, where her mother was, Xena had shrugged. "That's what I'm hear to find out." Then she'd picked up her mug and stalked off, angry for some reason...but not at Hope. It was more..at herself. Perhaps for mating with Izacon?

Not that one could do a whole lot when the Tartaran mating ritual caught one up...Hope had her own scars to prove that..and it was a true mating, given the markings on Izacon's body.

Amazing that.

So in the end, Gabrielle had lost what she'd traveled Tartarus for. It was such a pure punishment that it made Hope wriggle with a sweet kind of pain...at first..Then she'd felt...a little lost.

Another oddity.

Mysteries upon Mysteries.

Hope knew her Mother resided in Tartarus. The betrayer. Gabrielle belonged here if anyone did. But, as the tribe had found, no one knew where she'd gone and Hope....hadn't been allowed out of Dahok's house to find out.

"Why are you so interested in Gabrielle," Oriena asked. She'd nodded at Hope's body, "Aside from the obvious, I mean? What has she done that you'd want to find her?" The question had taken Hope a little aback. She'd not expected such directness.

In her father's house, No one was that direct...Everything was subtle, crafty. It was hard to be crafty around these people. They were so blunt.

Oriena was a curiosity to young Tartaran. (One of many that had been capturing her attention lately...) The amazon treated Hope with a neutrality that the demoness found refreshing. Perhaps because she looked less like a Tartaran and more like her mother. Perhaps. It didn't really matter. Like herself, Oriena was only doing an assigned task and Hope could actually appreciate that. Assignments...had been her life...and so it had been no different for her to muck about in a stable as to fuck at her father's command. Well, some different, ...one was..definitely more fun..than the other..but both were work that made her sweat and groan.

"Why are *you* trying to find her?" Hope had rejoined. She hadn't really expected an answer. She just wanted to avoid saying the truth.

Oriena had lifted the shovel and tossed it to the young woman with practiced ease..then to Hope's surprise had taken up a shovel of her own, "Because she was queen of the Amazons once and we Amazons take care of our own."

"Always?" Hope had asked.

Oriena's gaze had been penetrating, until Hope started moving the shovel in the muck. Then the blonde had started to dig. "Always."

Mysteries upon Mysteries.

She didn't understand these people at all. Their loyalty was strange. How did one purchase it? Her father had said, "Everyone has their price." What price had Gabrielle paid? Where had she gone? If she were here in Tartarus...why hadn't she come to ...

the idea whispered in her soul, hidden so long from view it resisted the pull into the light...

One thing Hope knew in her heart...

As Xena now sought, so had Gabrielle.

But why hadn't the bard come for Hope? Hadn't she been worth...something..anything at all..to her mother? That was a wound that wasn't fast closing..unlike the blisters upon her hand.

Hope looked down at the bandages again and flexed her fingers. Tonight she would unwrap her hands and where the wounds had been, fresh skin would be. Flesh wounds were always the easiest to heal..soul wounds...

The young woman shifted her weight on the striger, adjusting for the uphill climb on the stony path. She noted the tall twisted masses of rock imposing their presence on both sides. Gravel slid from where her ...consort (perhaps..someday..if she were patient? a vague feeling of optimism dribbled past the doubt that visited with her these days.. Her palms suddenly felt warm)...rode with Xena, up front, and past down towards Melosa and her mate..and the men..then Penho. Hope's lips curled up sardonically as she looked back, past the chieftess and towards the men.

She noted that they shifted uneasily in their seats. No doubt adjusting and cursing themselves for it. A small derisive laugh bubbled up in Hope's throat. At least the men were frightened of her.

That made her feel a little better.


	44. Chapter 44

Gabrielle in the Garden of Elysia


	45. Chapter 45

Perdicus shifted uncomfortably on the striger. He could feel Hope's penetrating stare burn a hole through his chest. The look caused two reactions. First, was the desire to kick his heels into the striger's body and zoom past the girl and second, was a sudden surge of need from his lower extremities.

It didn't help that Hope looked like Gabrielle. And she so definitely wasn't. Gabrielle didn't kill. He knew that. Everyone knew that. Gabrielle was an adventurer, but she'd had her principles. Perdicus respected that. Just as he'd respected her gentleminded acceptance of her love for Xena.

If he'd have known...

If he'd known..

he still would have married her. He'd been in that selfish stage.

Back then, he wouldn't have understood how she felt. Not toward another woman...not towards any woman. He might have thought, "oh, they're great friends." Just as he'd understood from the beginning...but he wouldn't have known

not the way he did now..

how very much Gabrielle had loved.

Even him.

Gabrielle wasn't one to do things by halves. She gave her whole heart, and once given, it stayed that way.

Perdicus looked in Hope's direction.

How many times had he heard Gabrielle pray for her daughter? How many times had he felt her regret at...killing ......

Perdicus blinked, and nearly fell off his Striger.

Sometimes he was so furking slow!!!!

No wonder Gabrielle hadn't wanted to marry...at first....He was such a dunce. What had she called him. . ."Dull."

Gods. Now he understood.

The Elysian gripped the reigns and pushed back the sudden anger he felt. His eyes narrowed as he gazed at the back of a young woman who looked so much like his wife. Despite himself he felt the pull of arousal that Hope inspired. He cursed himself for it. He was unsure whether his need arose from the image...or the substance...

It didn't help that the striger's even walk was already providing an adequate amount of stimulus. He hadn't needed any more excitement than what was already coursing through his system. Damn it, there were places that were all too tender, even though Marcus had been a remarkably gentle lover...

Perdicus sighed, and looked over at the exmercenary. His lips quirked in a sardonic smile. Not that Marcus wasn't having similar problems. Not that he didn't enjoy acquiring that tenderness...just...just..

Marcus turned briefly, perhaps feeling Perdicus' stare. He smiled at Perdicus, showing bright white teeth. The young farmer turned warrior returned the smile somewhat helplessly.

Sometimes, Perdicus thought, a body just had to not think too much.

The young man urged his steed forward until he was side by side with Marcus. The big man leaned and gave his thigh a squeeze. There was another smile, less toothy, but genuine. "She may turn you on, but she'll kill you." Marcus said.

Perdicus grinned and shook his head ruefully. It wasn't the death that he was afraid of, "Yah, well, at least when you stab me, it feels good." They looked at each other for several heartbeats, then both began to laugh hard enough that their tribesmates stared.

The stones that guarded the path looked on silently.


	46. Chapter 46

Izacon enters the realm

 

Tok at a meal

 


	47. Chapter 47

Xena Confronts Gabrielle in the Bath


	48. Chapter 48

Well, I had several suggestions for appropriate "imagery" or better said, alternative imagery for Izacon. That being said, Let us Share.

 

[ ](http://bearblue.com/library2/1990s/STO/hell/LoA.gif)

 

These are images borrowed from the "Lords of Acid." They're a hard rock group with ..no shame..LOL, as my friend DJ pointed out, there's a whole LOT of Izzys...

 

* * *

Another friend, Teresa, noted that the images *I* drew seemed a too much like Gabrielle and not like the, ". . . . 7-foot bundle of heat and hormones that you've described as Izzy. . ." and she's right.

In the previous drawings, I was trying for a *mood* as much as anything else and the Image of Gabrielle, layered over Izacon, seemed to fit.

Howsomever, Teresa provided a shot from the Chaos! comic action figures, that seem to fit the bill of Trouble, Hormones and Heat...and so I want to share that image with you too...

I don't have a smaller one, so we'll have to make do with the larger. Enjoy.

 

Well I hope these images have given your subconscious something to chew on and that maybe we're getting closer to the *feel* of Tartarus...


	49. Chapter 49

As the shadows lengthened, the conversation waned behind them and all that was left was the sound of the Strigers' persistant strides and the drone of their wuffling breath. Even Tok had become silent, responding with skitterish caution to the tall stones that marked the path. The daggite slunk behind them,like the hunter she was, dipping her head now and then to sniff out her boundaries, but maintaining a quick but even pace with her assigned watch. The small stones of the pathway would have pierced softer hides and it was fortunate that no one was walking.

Usually Xena found the noise of traveling comforting, but the incessant crunching of gravel wore thin and discomfiting as time passed without a single word passing from Gabrielle's lips. No peace was to be had while looking at the Tartaran either. Gabrielle's pinched unpleasant demeanor froze any overtures that the ex-warlord thought of making. When Xena guided her Striger closer to her lover, Gabrielle would cause her mount to sidle away.

The whole situation frustrated the warrior.

She thought knew why Gabrielle was angry, but she did not understand it. That wasn't what baffled the Elysian, however. She'd figured on Gabrielle being upset. Xena just hadn't expected to the totality of the Tartaran's snubbing.

She missed her lover's touch, those gentle announcements of presence and caring that expanded their bedtime relationship to expressions of deepening love. Gabrielle had touched her often, letting fingers linger and brush into gentle grasps, minihugs on her forearm or the wiping away of fresh tears. The contact had reminded Xena she was alive...without the hurt. Touch's silent communication had declared Gabrielle's loyalty and tenderness with a firmer conviction than any words could have carried. And, here where punishments reigned, those slices of heaven, those skin kisses had come back to her.

For a very little while.

And now, though Xena *KNEW* and could feel in her gut that she was right to set her course this way, to challenge Gabrielle's assumptions, those touches were gone. It was as if, for these all too slow candlemarks, she was back on earth where the deprivation of Gabrielle's presence had seared her skin and marked her soul. She ached for the tangible proof of her lover with renewed intensity and she wondered if the Tartaran felt the same way.


	50. Chapter 50

In part of her mind, Izzy threw herself into Xena's protective embrace over and over. But rather than give in to the dangerous impulse, she held tight to the reigns of her thick furred mount and guided it and herself away from temptation. The battle of need for Xena versus need for survival crashed upon her will. The Tartaran, however, shored up her internal resources by reminding herself of the hazards of the journey.

So it was that she found herself grimacing her way past the dark monuments of death that guarded the pathway to the temple. She checked the stones often, marking time internally when Tok began cruising in her daggite defensive mode. The sun was now low enough in the bloody sky that she, with her Tartaran eyes, didn't have to squint to see the multitude of faces anymore. Layer upon layer of obscene toothy grimaces frozen into place, claws folded under wing or scraping against lean solid malevolent bodies threatened to unveil themselves with the dusk.

Or with fear.

That was the problem.

And it was the reason.

Izacon had debated telling her tribesmate. She'd even talked to Penho about the matter, knowing that if necessary, the Tartaran would keep her confidence. The blueskinned woman had been just as firm on the idea that it would be better, in the long run, to keep their silence. Safer. There were too many unknowns about these Elysians and to simply say, "Whatever you do, don't get scared," would have only gotten the ball rolling.

The long run seemed very far away at the moment. Izzy would have told Xena. The warrior, she knew, could have handled the information. It would have been nice to see the eyes of an ally in her lover, but she never got the chance to make her warning. So now she had to deal with the lingering puzzled glances of her warrior.

Show no fear, feel no fear.

Anger was better than fear. So Izacon thought Vicious Bloody Tartaran thoughts, to throw the marbled Guardians off the scent. She thought about the torments of being the mother of a Tartaran child and being unable to say reveal it. (And what she Wanted to do to Dahok in all its bloody gory detail) She thought about her time on Tartarus with Xena and without. She thought about her warrior's mechanations and was still debating on whether to really be angry about that or just...act...angry. But she found it difficult to stay angry with Xena. She'd missed her too much to hold the anger for long.

The warrior just didn't understand.

Izzy would just have to make it clear to her. Somehow.

In the meantime, it was best to stir the pot.

The only problem with acting angry, as a Tartaran, was that it flushed the skin with the same hormones that battle inspired and Izacon walked the emotional tightrope between rage and uncontrollable lust. Better to stay angry...stay angry, but don't ACT on the anger, don't blood anyone, or else they would lose it all... So, while she was mean to her lover, she wasn't cruel. Izacon was aware that she was igniting Xena's own anger and it was good.

At least they were closer to the temple than not, and though Izacon wanted to spur the Strigers into a gallop, she refrained and kept the even quick pace of the confident. If she timed it right (and she sincerely hoped that she had) they would be in sight of the lighted temple before the sun finally closed for the night. Then she would give the command to run for their very lives...lest they become part of the long walk themselves.

Only a very few escaped the Guardian's grasp. A very very few. Izacon shivered in memory of the aeons she spent as stone. And blinked back tears for the lost ones. Some fates were worse than death.

Meanwhile, she would continue maintaining her distance and keeping her thoughts to herself. That would distract her warrior from noticing that, as the shadows deepened, the diamond eyes of death were sparkling sleepily awake.


	51. Chapter 51

It was the niggling sense that timing was everything, that kept Izacon from turning her head and looking back. She thought, 'If I can just hold out long enough. If I can just catch that first glimmer of the temple's light, before the night sky takes over, we'll make it. We'll make it.'

Despite herself, where the fates were concerned Izacon retained her superstitions. Even here, in Tartarus, one didn't tempt the triune. Though sometimes it seemed to her that avoiding their temptation felt a bit like she was clinging by the bloodied tips of her fingernails. Still, as the sun pulled its black cloak closer to its bosom, Izacon knew the time would come, when she must face what lay behind them. Night always came early to the world's farther edges, no matter where you were from.

She breathed a long sigh of relief when she caught sight of the first flicker of white marble and she quickly pointed it out to her lover. "Look, Xena, There! There it is." She gasped the words out with a voice full of warm possibilities. For the first time since their ride began she dared to look at her lover with gentle eyes, much to Xena's astonishment.

The warrior, after gathering her thoughts with a shake of the head, determined that she would ask later and *do* now. She looked and her expression turned to one of awe. "By the Gods," Xena uttered. The Elysian, who was obviously impressed, reigned her mount to a full halt, just so she could absorb the details.

The golden spires of the temple sparkled almost as brightly as the white glistening walls. Greenery, dabbed with flowering rainbow colors dared to overspill the confines of the walls, but that only added to the image of lush beauty. Colorful eggshaped towers pillared into the sky, like humongous torchlights. Buildings, tall, wide and generously covered with decorative holy Tartaran images, were carved right into the rocky face of the mountain. There seemed to be a glow, emanating from the very heart of the temple that surrounded the city and that goldenwarm light pushed the boundary of the sky and land, staving away the darkness of night.

A thick row of the dark menacing monoliths, placed end to end, stood some distance away from the main entrance. They blocked the view of the bottom portion of the carved walls of the city-temple. There was only one path that could be seen and it was guarded on the sides by giant frightening looking Tartarans that easily matched and overcame the height of the monoliths. They were dressed in white flowing robes and silvered armor, with their red clawed wings partially opened, ready to spread themselves. They held swords before them that were longer and wider than Izacon's body twice over. There was no doubt to their gleaming edged deadly sharpness.

The giants' heads turned as one, seemingly summoned to action by Izacon and Xena's gaze, and the rest of the tribe which had rambled to a stop to gawk at the site before them. There were more murmurs of astonishment, even from Hope, who while she'd heard of the place, had never dared believe it.

Salmoneus' awed and cheery voice wafted forward, "Well, this was definitely worth the wait. Is this Tartarus? I better check my tour guide." There was a yelp from Penho, and Izacon turned just in time to see a guilty hand get snatched away from an obviously pinched thigh. Salmoneus grinned and started to chatter, "Yep, this is Tartarus alright....Izzy you never..."

Izacon wasn't paying attention anymore, nor was she smiling and his conversation drifted off into the twilight. The red Tartaran's expression paled and her grip tightened on the reins of her steed. Of the choices that arose for her in that moment, there seemed only one thing for her to do.

The Tartaran nodded at Penho, saying, "It's time." The trihorned beauty blanched and returned the nod, then grabbed the reins of her partner's Striger.

Izacon quickly skittered her Striger closer to Xena's. The warrior, who was suddenly worried, asked, "What's wrong?" But Xena's lips were covered before anymore could be said in a soul searing kiss and she was let go, breathless and slightly stunned.

"Remember I love you. I will always love you." Izacon's emotions made the words into liquid honey. She touched Xena's face tenderly and her hand slid gently away.

The warrior blinked.

Then Izacon slapped the rear of Xena's striger with an arm built into strength by years on Tartarus. The creature screamed and bolted towards the open pathway. That scream was followed by several other offended striger voices and hollers from Penho to "RUN for your lives Damn IT!"

The beautiful red Tartaran saw in a blur that Melosa turned her head and looked back, but only heard the shout of terror from the Amazon queen. Izacon's steed, normally a sturdy fellow, reared and tried to turn around to follow its mates. The Tartaran held her mount firmly in place as the others rapidly flowed around her. Then, when she realized he was going to fight her too much, she let go of the reins and leapt up. Her wings grew out from her body and spreads into the air. Her sword flashed the last bit of sunlight behind her as she prepared to defend the passage of her friends.

In front of her, where twilight had given way to the moons' and stars' dominion, the monoliths stretched like winged living whirling tornadoes into sky for miles and miles and miles. The sound was like an ocean wave that could barely be heard yet, but soon the combined noise of those wings and those voices would be heard. It would be almost overpowering to anyone outside the city walls. One could be swept away and destroyed by the tide of sound alone, if one weren't ready.

'Gods let them make it,' Izzy prayed.

Then she smiled grimly, as her wings flapped lazily, keeping her in the air. The Tartaran followed her friends, backing slowly, but keeping her gaze as forward as possible. She used quick glances to note where her friends were. They were tiny dots on the road, and she could tell that Xena had yet to pull her Striger to her will.

This was good.

Izacon had planned it that way. The Tartaran took a deep breath and let herself grin and be carried by the wind. Xena would be so pissed.

Well that was fine. If the warrior could run roughshod over *her* life in the namby assed name of the greater good, then Izacon was allowed a few inconsiderate priveleges herself. Maybe the next time Xena would think to *talk* to her about making arbitrary decisions...next time..

There would definitely be a next time.

The problem was the when.

Izacon's years as part of the great entity weighed on her...even now she could hear the seduction of the sirens, begging her to surrender to them, to join them. Once she'd not had the will to resist..but now..Now she was an authority, given her own voice and abilities. One did not survive Tartarus without gaining ...something.

*IF one was willing to learn and pay the price..to wade through the garbage to find the truth...

and the truth was that there was more to her than met the eye. And in this moment...

She would do everything in her power to make sure they were safe. When they'd first been given to her as a responsibility She'd planned for this eventuality. And despite her earlier anger, she'd planned for their survival.

Even now, given Xena's love, knowing Xena's love..she questioned that decision..the why of it escaped Gabrielle Izacon. Only, it must be that seeing Xena brought out the best in her. Xena made her strive for goodness...even when she didn't want to. At first, when she'd just come to know Xena, it was because she thought she had to set an example...and now..

Now the air droned and wailed about her. In front of her was a tide of black wings and bodies rushing their way toward her, blocking out the sister moons' light. Urging her to turn and join them in crushing the light before them and behind her.

All she had to do was stay focused. If she avoided getting caught up in the storm of bodies that made their way towards the temple...and that was an absolute requirement...she would throw herself on her sword before surrendering to that particular madness again. Then everything would be fine. She'd meet her lover in minutes.

And if she should gain death as a reward, then she'd meet her love in days and months. Well, she didn't mind starting over, she'd done it often enough. She wasn't worried about that. Izacon knew where her friends would be. All she had to do was remember...remember. All she would have to do is remember, and if the marking on her body carried over, well..that would be easy enough. The markings, one in the shape of an "x" told her that her lover was here.

But if she should lose. If the song and the forceful pull of the other souls were too much for her.... Would Xena wait?

Izacon hoped so. But it was bound to be a LONG wait. What would Xena look like in a century? Gabrielle hadn't counted the time as part of the monoliths when she'd given her age. Another thing for Xena to be upset at...

But she'd not quite known how to tell her lover what it was like.

How does one describe...Tartarus.

It was so personal.

Inside her, Gabrielle knew what she needed to do in no matter the case. In that eventuality, there was a key. In her heart of hearts, she sought the images that had kept her going through Tartarus during her long lifetimes. There *she* was, firmly in place. Xena. In all her glory, and now with fresh new memories to add to the song that always played in Gabrielle's heart.

Xena. Warrior Princess. Her beloved.

Her reason for living and continuing.

Even when she was mad at her.

Even when Izacon hated her.

Always she loved Xena.

and if Sometimes sacrifices were necessary...well...that was life. She would give hers freely. But not easily.

Izacon hadn't survived the nine levels without gaining a few tricks. And a few truths.

The flying horde wouldn't like the sting she would give them. If she was lucky, it would buy her the time she needed..and she wouldn't have to show her next face.

If she wasn't...well..Xena would learn a few things wouldn't she.

Izacon chanced a glance down at her hands, cupping one hand as if she held a ball. There was a small flash of light, a little nothing, but maybe something that would make this journey easier. It was a start. She was expert at that. Izacon closed her eyes and when she opened the lids, there was nothing but fire in the sockets and a real and true love in her heart.


	52. Chapter 52

Xena Raged!!!

At first she'd tried to halt the animal. Then, when *that* didn't work, she tried using her strength of will and body to try and maneuver it in the direction that she wanted to go. But the Striger, rushed, on all six powerful legs, as fast as it's furry body could take it. And that was harrowlingly damn fast enough to make her hair blow hard and back like a flag and her skin sting with the slap of the wind. It was a sensation that she normally would have enjoyed, but the animal was taking her farther and farther from that wench-bitch of a lover, who'd fooled her so well. She should have realized something was wrong. She should have made the time to find out was bothering her lover so, but there had been no time. A small niggling regret formed in the back of her throat, but she shook it off. If there had been no time then, there was even less now, by Zeus.

Xena twisted in her seat, holding tight to the reins with one hand, intending to seek her lover visually. The sight that greeted her was not what she expected and she froze. The warrior's heart seemed to fall to her toes or else crawl up her throat or maybe it was just trying to both at the same time. She wasn't sure which way her heart was going, but like the striger, it seemed to move wildly beyond her control, as if it were trying to fly headlong out of her body and flee into the city.

Xena, who normally had to go through long processes to identify *what* she was feeling, didn't have that problem this time. She recognized terror when she saw it, and knew it when she felt it. Her blood ran cold now and only her long practice at dour stoicism kept her body from betraying her. Fear's icy familiar fingerprints left dazzling sparkles against her eyelids, providing false lights into the darkness that was the sky. Funny, it was usually her victims who felt this way. For some reason, Xena resented that.

It was pure stubborness that made her do what she did next. Or maybe it was love. The will that caused her to leap from the Striger's back, turning circles in the air, was an emotion that would have to analyzed later. For now, Xena had only one goal. The rest of her just followed.

\-----

Penho saw the woman leap, somersault and begin running...and not in the right direction. Of course, *her* striger was just as uncooperative in her command to turn around. The blue Tartaran cursed a streak and found herself following Xena's example. She dismounted with simple elegance, even as the Striger crossed the giant's path. Salmoneus, despite himself, was looking up at the fearsome visages and missed her leaving.

It was probably better that way. Penho paused just long enough to feel the regret of her loss. Her hand reached towards the calming border, fingers reaching towards the light then she turned away and faced the song.


	53. Chapter 53

The blue Tartaran didn't look back. It was a matter of necessity. If she looked back she might be inclined to flee into the light along with her fellow tribesmate, but the tall blue woman shook her white locks, steeled her gaze and spread her wings. Then she took off, running and leaping into flight, towards the darkness and towards the wild woman whose piercing ulation managed to break through the drone of sound that careened seductively through Penho's bones. The song thrummed through her blood, filling her with a dread desire, summoning her. She shook the passion off, recognizing the danger for what it was and narrowed her focus upon Xena.

The pillar next to the warrior had begun to peel apart. Bony apparitions cried out in an ecstasy of agony and took to the wind. It was a timing thing, one moment before or after, it would have been too late, but Xena caught her first "ride," to the top, using one powerful backflip after another to bounce from soul to winged soul like flying stairsteps. A person of lesser balance would have plummeted to her death or, rather, been destroyed by the claws that sought to break her. But Xena weilded her sword like a great sythe, harvesting hands and arms and even, upon occassion, heads and wings to suit her purpose. Some cases she would simply land on their backs, trying to move them in the direction she willed. But like the Strigers, these creatures of darkness were drawn to the light of the city. She had no idea whether it was because they found the light irrisistable, or whether they wanted to snuff it out.

It didn't matter. The creatures were howling in rage around her. It was a highly irritating noise that gave her want to clasp her hands to her ears and hurl her body to the ground for silence' sake. But since she couldn't, she gave vent to her own noise, finding a kind of solace in her war-shout. It broke a path for her, gave her body room to move and if she could have kept the cry up constantly, she would have. Instead she found, when her voice cracked, that a scratchy hum would do just as well and a song even better.

When she realized that...oh...she sang, loud and pure, ignoring the occassional catch in her voice. She let battle songs fill her body, taking place of the aching ice that had been forming in her bones and crippling her swings. The creatures tried to veer from her, but Xena balanced precariously upon the shoulders of one demon, then by her fingertips on another, flipping from one creature to the next, sure of the outcome. Higher and higher she climbed but her goal was as far away as ever. The warrior, however, didn't have to worry about losing track of Gabrielle. The red Tartaran shone brightly, almost blindingly, in the midst of the darkness that thronged about her. This gave Xena a wide, easy target to move towards and a smile of fierce determination formed on her lips. She would reach her lover and once there, she would defend till her dying breath. All them, if it came to that.

Xena only lost track once, when she heard screams of terror coming from behind her. Penho jauntily saluted her, then went back to carving a wide path for her flight. "You're an amazing woman, Xena," she shouted across the distance. Her voice was full of admiration, but her eyes were red with blood. "Don't think many would use Tartarans for stairs."

Xena grunted and punched a demon away from her face. "Well," she grunted, "you do what you have to."

"Care for a ride?"

Xena grinned, and flipped back with a solid kick, knocking a greenwinged beast out of the sky. The blue Tartaran caught the warrior upon her shoulders with a grunt. "Welcome to the party," the Elysian said.

Penho smirked, then concentrated on moving ever forward, ignoring the splatter of gore that erupted from her next victim. "Wouldn't miss it. Not for the world."


	54. Chapter 54

Xena could feel the muscles of the trihorned woman ripple underneath her thighs. She pearched carefully to avoid the sharp point on Penho's right shoulder. She could feel the horn's indentation upon her inner thigh. Penho's powerful spread wings drew them higher and faster into the deep sky. They were closer now to Gabrielle, and the warrior was blinking rapidly against the fierce luminescence that surrounded her lover. Gabrielle was so bright now that Xena was tearing. The warrior continued to shield her eyes from the brightness with one hand, not fathoming how Penho could stand to fly directly into it, but knowing that they must.

"Gods, what is she doing?".

Penho grunted in response. She glanced briefly in Izacon's direction, then turned her head away. The pupils of Penho's eyes were already narrowed to slivers and a milky membrane had lowered to protect her sight. If Xena was seeing the sun, Penho was seeing the light of a distant star, but feeling the heat; rolling searing waves of heat. She didn't know how Xena could stand it because she hardly dared breathe, but somehow the blue woman continued on and forward. At least, within the boundaries of Izacon's scorching presence she hardly felt the pull of the summons. It almost made the burdened breaths she was taking worth it. If she had felt strong enough to answer, she might have told Xena what she *thought* Izacon was doing, but it was too much effort. So she just focused on the one familiar person that glowed in this nightmare and carried her oblivious warrior friend forward..

Meanwhile, Xena was finding herself too dazzled so she finally surrendered and closed her eyes. Even behind the safety of her eyelids, however, she could see the brilliance that surrounded them and salty tears dribbled uncontrollably down her cheeks. Only her perfect balance and her long legs, which she used to anchor herself, kept her in place. The Elysian kept her sword out and her body ready. She was too aware of how vunerable she was and there were others less kindly inclined who were braving the bright torture of Gabrielle's presence. She could feel them, even if she couldn't see them..

Depending heavily on her other powerful senses, Xena handn't missed any foe that she struck at. It helped that she was ambidextrous, and could switch the sword to either hand without ill effect. Xena fought against the impulse to jump up on Penho's shoulders as if the woman were a trick horse and kept seated and kept her sword swings in control. The warrior never had been a show off anyway, though she enjoyed battling with a totality that always surprised her. If it seemed to others that she was performing for them, it was their mistake. Usually a deadly one..

Death, unfortunately is a slimy job. At one point Xena had no choice but to wipe her hands, quickly, on the nearest dry surface; Penho's hair. The blue woman didn't even really notice, but above them the already dying giant savage, it's skin beginning to blister from the inside out, did..

The moment it thought Xena wasn't paying attention it dove, heedless of the bright, heedless of the heat, heedless of the sword in her other hand. It swooped with deadly intentions to her right. Penho, who saw a blurry swirl of green out of the corner of her eye swung away, but it hit them both. Hard. Its claws raked into Penho's side and wing and scraped the Warrior Princess' back bloody as it wrapped itself tight around them. Then in a powerful bite, its elongated jaws clamped onto Xena's shoulder, and its huge fangs punctured through her armor.

They fell in a screaming tangle of arms, legs, wings and teeth.


	55. Chapter 55

Izacon, who-is-Gabrielle, let the pleasurable sensations of the song roll through her. She writhed with the joy of incantation. Light scattered from her fingertips, her toes, her belly, her marks. She was chanting an old old story, an old old prayer, taught by a master of the art. She, a one time bard now demon, was summoning up the power and letting it pour out of her as it willed. Let the madness come as it may.

She gloried in the sensuous sensation, in the rising of herself, the dark wild Goddess, the power. She thrilled in the ecstasy of *their* fear. Where the entrapped Tartaran's massed consciousness tried to summon her, she called to the remnants of their individuality. Come hither, come hither. She sang a conversion spell.

If their hearts were true, they lived to serve her. If their hearts were false and yet they drew near, their innards would heat until they blew apart into a million sparkling particles. Either way, in the end, they would be free.

In the back of her mind she knew it would have been better, if somehow, instead of causing the Tartarans to fight among themselves, she could find a way to let *them* do the converting. Like dominoes they would have fallen, if she'd had that final key. But to save her friends she surrendered to the darker portion of self, the part of her that was no longer very far away. The necessity of the moment, called for action: Death to the encroaching foe that threatened her lover and those charged under her care.

Her power seemed to grow with each soul that turned to her. She felt them join her, contributing a little bit of themselves to the power. Her song embraced them and soothed them as they gave up the last little bit of their will to her. Then, when their souls were captured fully in the glory of the song, they flung themselves willingly upon their fellows, charmed into battling for her cause.

It was inevitable, she concluded later, that Xena should somehow manage to find her way into the fray. As it was, her lips curled in sultry recognition of her lover's song,as she felt it melt through her. But she was too far gone in her choice to lose herself to Xena's lure. Izacon had long ago formed a will of her own. Now, with a precise and complicated skill she used the feelings of her warrior's music to invoke in her a weaving; a new seduction to the harmonizing chant. The promise of something paradisical and sleek entered and added a dimension to the spell she carefully crafted.

It was irresistible.

The Tartarans began turning in droves.

And it was good.

Then she heard the scream.

The sound of her lover's pain ripped right through her heart.

The song of summoning came to a shattering halt, though the battling demons hardly noticed. They were already involved in their mindless task. Gabrielle cast her gaze down, realizing that in her surrender to growing insanity she'd not even been aware of how close Xena...and Penho, had managed to come to her. Heart in throat, and mind not too very clear, she dove after the tumbling trio.

Despite the weighted gravity of their fall, *she* was faster, because she willed it and Survival demanded that she somehow, someway break the plummet. With powerful arms she grabbed hold of the foreign demon, and used her wings to drag against the air. Her muscles fairly screamed with the effort as she frantically pulled, but the Tartaran wouldn't let go of her lover, or her friend. It was too dead to be willed away.

With a voluminous wail she let go of the Tartaran's waist, clawed her way up its back. She grabbed the creature's jaw. Then yanking its teeth from the body of her lover, she tore its head apart with a shriek and peeled the demon all the way down to its hips.

She quickly yanked what was left of the bottom set of teeth out of Xena's body. Izacon forced it's limbs to release by viciously kicking with her legs and clawing with her own hands. The creature fell away, in pieces.

Izacon grabbed Xena, who was tattered and barely conscious, while Penho struggled. The blue Tartaran's wings flapped lamely. One was obviously broken. Izacon held on to both of them, but Penho seemed bent on resisting, as if she didn't realize her wing was broken.

"Hold to me!" Izacon commanded. She held her friend by the arm pit.

Penho, tears of pain streaming down her face, shook her head. "You can't hold us both." She almost sounded reasonable.

Xena moaned and Izacon pulled her lover closer, working to get a good hold on her, even as her other arm was extended outward by Penho's deliberate movements. "No. No. I can. We're closer than it looks. Hold on." Izacon could still feel remnants of the power flowing through her. She was sure they could reach their destination. The red Tartaran pushed herself forward to demonstrate, but Penho wriggled from her grasp.

"Catch you on the other side!" She grinned through her tears. It seemed for a moment as if she floated, sustained by that smile. Then, she folded her one good wing around her body, and let herself fall.

"NO!!!" Izacon nearly reached, nearly let go of Xena. But she couldn't. In her body, she could feel the pulsing of her Xena's blood. She could smell it. She recognized the warm liquid by touch as soon as she felt it and it was smeared all over her thigh, her hand. Gabrielle, who-is-Izacon, cried out desperately for her lover to hold on, to stay...with her. She recognized the bubbling noises the warrior was making.

Then she felt her lover's touch upon her face. She was forced to look into shadowed blue eyes. She tried to ignore the blood that was obviously pouring from Xena's nose and mouth. The warrior tried to speak. "Xena..." Gabrielle nearly looked away, towards the massive columns of the city. But her eye caught gold as Xena raised her necklace up.

"I have plenty." the warrior gasped. "Time to die." Then Xena smiled as if it were some huge joke and closed her eyes.

"No. Wait!" Izacon felt the shuddering sigh as life left her companion's body.

Again.

Here was a madness she hadn't anticipated.

For a heartbeat Izacon hesitated. Then she let go. Xena's body tumbled as if in slow motion.

Izacon raced to the ground, using a burst of power, pushing with all the speed she had. Her knees and shins scraped the surface of the world as she swooped back up. In seconds she had her arms around her now unconscious friend. Then, with another push that sparked gold behind her, she threw herself in Xena's direction. She was determined to catch them both.

She'd forgotten what this world was like. A hand bigger than Izacon's body plowed through the air above the golden-haired tartaran and snatched the fallen warrior away. Then Izacon felt a sharp spine-tingling slap between her wings and everything went dark.


	56. Chapter 56

She woke up snarling and fighting, her mind still in the throes of the battle.

Izacon howled for Xena as she instinctively pushed away one of the City of Light's healers who was standing too close. The healer was thrown back against the wall, eviscerated by the claws of Izacon's feet. The human-size green Tartaran died without comment and quickly.

But the sight of blood and death spattering the room, and herself, inflamed the crimson Tartaran. Izacon, who was still reeling with the images of losing her friend, and her lover, turned her mad gaze to the others present in the room. She looked for Xena among the sparse group within the oddly sizable room.

At first the Tartaran's expression turned sorrowful. That lasted only heartbeats. Then Izacon, with her wings beginning to unfurl to their true and full length, roared until the walls shook.

The strong bonds the leading healers had cautiously placed upon the wild Tartaran gave way, as if they were only string, with a vicious sound of metal grinding and popping. Izacon, who had traveled the full 9 levels and back again without hope of ever seeing her lover, took on a new form. Screaming, panicked guards made their frantic way to the door, which was locked from the outside. The frightening sounds of their death could be heard well past the thick walls of the windowless healer's room.

A few moments later all was utterly still and silent.

Then, began a noisy tearing and battering against the heavily barred metal door. It almost broke from the first strike and buckled at the pessure being put upon it. Thick trails of blood leaked past the weakening barrier.

Melosa, with wisdom gained from years of queenly experience, evacuated herself and her tribe, from the building. Everyone fled. Except for a daggite who quietly made its way into the building during the chaos.  
****

Xena kept her eyes closed for the time being, evaluating her situation with careful practiced ease. Whoever held her captive was not flying, though she couldn't tell exactly where she was. None of the smells were familiar.

She was bound, but not painfully so. Feeling remained in her arms and legs. She quietly tested her bindings and they loosened. She suspected this lack of caution was based on the belief that she remained dead.

And she truly felt like she ought to have been, given the headache that threatened the lack of content in her stomach. The ride's bouncy gait wasn't helping much and she had to swallow back her nausea more than once.

She was just sick enough that it took her awhile to realize that she wasn't being carried sideways by an animal. Or rather, not the ordinary kind four footed kind.

Not that anything in Tartarus was ordinary, the warrior thought grimly.

Still, she gathered her wits enough to know that her problems had taken on sizable proportions.

Especially when she finally squinted her eyes partially open and realized she was in the palm of something's hand.


	57. Chapter 57

Tok didn't wait for permission when the door shattered into dust. The creature that was her mistress was in no condition to give it. The daggite charged into the room as fast as her legs could carry her and then leapt, just as the body of her beloved friend began to expand  
and to change.

She landed on top, where Izacon's back used to be, and dug her claws in. Then the daggite crouched, pulling her body parts as close together as possible, as she might if she were behind a stone waiting for prey, and closed her eyes. Normally she could keep her eyes open. But she knew what it was like when her Izacon changed.

It felt as if Tok were on one of the inhospitable far worlds again.

As the light and heat became more fearsome, protective membranes formed over the daggite's face, protecting her mouth, nose and eyes. Her skin began to move and the plates and bone that covered her became a shield for her body. This ability was one of the great secrets of the daggites and was what allowed them to roam safely from world to world. Their body shield protected them from the most formidable and dangerous environment.

Tok held another secret within her, one that only a rare outsider knew – Izacon included. She began, calling upon the deep sources of all wisdom, to make the effort to reach her friend.

She pushed her soul-self hard, past all the rage and loss that pulsated like a burning heart until she found the center of the pressing emotion. It was the main need of her mistress, which had  
lain dormant for so long, the need for the mate.

Here the daggite perceived images of the first one again and she realized that she'd forgotten what this one had looked like. Now, as she explored this beating interior, she realized that the first one and the warrior were one and the same and that she, Tok, had been correct not to interfere.

This made Tok feel very good.

It also gave her a Way.

Reaching, she plunged a tendril of thought into the red fleshy wall and hoped that her mistress would hear her.

***

Melosa knew her decision to flee was the right one when the ground began violently shaking outside the medical building. Oriena was running beside her when the tiles beneath them began bucking and vibrating and finally snapping apart. The lovers were brutally tossed against each other.

The Amazon Queen looked back. Marcus and Perdicus were still catching up. The dark man was straining to lift the berserk past the rift that had formed beneath them. She waved the two men forward and searched for Salmoneus, the other male in her charge. He was nowhere  
to be seen.

There was no more time to look for him though. The bright structure they were running from was shimmering and humming and Melosa was forced to turn her gaze away as bile threatened to rise in her throat. Then there was a creaking and groaning of stone and metal and she just knew.

Shouting out instruction to find shelter and duck, she grabbed her mate's hand and jumped towards the infinitesimal safety of an overturned cart. With a crack louder than thunder and brighter and bluer than lightening the building exploded. Great chunks of stone spewed out, showering those who'd made their escape with a hail of shattered rock and debris.

Melosa pulled Oriena closer under her body and did her best to protect them both from the rain of rubble. She cried out and arched when she felt a good size something bounce off her back and ribs but held on tight to her lover. Biting her lower lip she fought the pain, though a hint of tears escaped from the crease of her eyes.

"Mel?"

"Later."

The shower slowed to a halt. Then there was another noise, sharp and trumpeting and beyond loud. She had to cover her ears, leaving Oriena vulnerable. But her lover was also holding her hands to her ears and turned back to look at Melosa. They shared a moment of understanding, pressing their ears hard and protectively.

Melosa had heard something similar once when she was young. A group of entertainers had passed near her childhood home. Only she doubted strongly that this was one of those gray, wrinkly creatures or even a herd of elephants. The noise changed to something entirely  
different. It was like a combination of groans and sound of something bursting its seams on a grand scale. There was an overwhelming sulfurous smell wafting through the air. It was exceeding gross and almost compellingly interesting. With the rain of stone apparently  
over, she risked stretching. Wincing sharply, she bravely looked over the edge of the cart.

The honored dead Queen of the Amazons regretted it instantly.

Retching and screaming Melosa raised her arms over her eyes. A muddled recalled image of a creature, bigger than anything she'd ever seen, bigger than the building they'd just been in, was burned into her mind. She saw, over and over in her mind, grotesque stretching, waiving tentacles, fantastic looking wings, and bizarre light streaming from an expanding globular body that seemed to get larger with each thought. She had never seen anything like it. Fear and  
bile rose up in her like the ocean tidal wave and though she fought, there was nothing in her to stop it.

She felt something strike her, as if from far away. Then there was blissful dark.

Where Oriena found the strength, she didn't know. She placed her arms under Melosa's and lifted, pulling her lover's body over her shoulder. Odd cast shadows made from the nauseating light behind her caused the road to appear as if it were bending under her feet. It was a struggle to even move, but the Amazon warrior willed herself up, for her lover.

"Marcus! Perdicus! Sal! Follow Me!"

She wasn't even sure if she'd been heard over the cacophony.

There were people, things, fleeing all around her. She heard the beat of wings above her head and she dared to look up to see scores of the colorful Tartarans fleeing in terror past her. The ground was starting to buckle and tear. She staggered under the weight of the queen and the press of disorientation. But somehow she managed to awkwardly pick her feet up and place them down again, and the next thing she knew she was running hard in the same direction as the  
crowd.

She ran an uncountable time and length. It felt like forever. It could have been a few moments. There came a point, however, where she had to stop.

The long blonde woman looked to her left and right, for anything that might shelter. It was so bright now, even brighter than when she and her companions first entered the city. And she was beginning to feel unbearably hot. She could hardly see, but Oriena thought she saw an alleyway. Spare blue shadows inspired by tall, crowded buildings beckoned her. She knew it could be dangerous, that whatever was behind them could no doubt destroy these shelters too, but could not think of what other thing to do.

Taking a chance she broke from the crowd and hoped that her tribe-mates followed. She had no voice to call them. Her chest felt as if it were going to burst and Melosa was already beginning to slide from her grip. She passed a door and stopped and backtracked. The door was set into the building, providing a dark inviting space.

Taking a chance she stepped into it, pulling Melosa down so she was holding her from the front. Oriena was breathing hard as she leaned against the marvelously cool surface of the left wall. She closed her eyes, holding her lover to her and tried to catch her breath.

"Let me take her."

Oriena looked up to see Marcus, his face streaming with sweat, reaching out for the Queen. She shook her head in the negative and pulled Melosa up and closer to her bosom. "I've got her," she  
huffed.

"Barely." That was all Marcus said before he too leaned back against the cooling surface of the wall. Perdicus joined them, and declined the offer of his lover's arm.

Oriena knew they couldn't stay there forever, but she couldn't make herself go any further. She looked past the two men, out at the overly bright street and realized they were missing someone. She had a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach.

"Where's Salmoneus?"

***

 

"I have to admit to being surprised though. What makes you want to go back?"

Salmoneus looked up at Hades. "I never thought I'd be the one to say this," Salmoneus said with hesitation, then his expression firmed, "But send me back to Tartarus. People I care about are  
there. The one I love is there."

"But…She's a demon."

"I know. I still love her."

"No accounting for taste." Hades shook his head ruefully.

"You see, I'd been sitting by Penho's bed when things went," the man's arms waved wildly in the air, "Kablooey."

"You don't have to explain how you got here, Sal. I keep my word, but we agreed that you were searching for Gabrielle, not some other person. I can't send everyone willy-nilly to whomever he or she wanted to see. It would be Chaos! I'd have warlords seeking out old enemies. I'd constantly have to deal with ill-fated lovers." Hades strode back and forth on the steps of his dais. His cloak waved behind him, snapping in emphasis with his points. "No. I won't do  
it." Hades said firmly, making stopping motions with his hands.

Sal looked grieved. Then his eyes lit up. "She's a friend of Izacon's."

"Is she?" Hades forced himself to appear disinterested. But a glimmer of possibility began percolating in his mind. "No. That doesn't matter. A rule is a rule."

"But I'm on a tour. How can I get back to my group if I don't have a guide."

Hades' eyelids narrowed a bit and the smaller, bearded man gulped.

"That is a good point, but you forget, I am a God. I can just wave my hand and send you there."

Salmoneus' shoulders slumped and gazed at his toes for a moment.

"I still can't send you back to her judgement place. It isn't my right. Her judgement is her judgement. The only reason I let you go to find Gabrielle's is that Xena knew what she was punishing herself about. You'll have to meet up with Penho someplace else."

Salmoneus nodded, but didn't look totally confident in his chosen lot. "I understand, but I will need a few directions."

Hades waved his hand in the direction of the portal and it opened. "You can ask one of the guards," he said dismissively.

Salmoneus paled. Then he straightened his back and sucked in his gut, which for some reason seemed a bit sleeker than Hades recalled, and without a further glance at the God of the Underworld, went through it.


	58. Chapter 58

"We can’t go back and we can’t stay out here," Oriena said. She glanced at her tribemates grimly, wearily. Oriena nodded her head at the heavy wooden door of the entranceway. She couldn’t really articulate more. It was too hot to think. "Open it."

They knew what she meant. Returning to the field of the pillars was too dangerous to even contemplate, but then, so was what was behind them. If they were to have any chance at all, it would be in this building.

Marcus wiped sweat from his brow and examined the door quickly, looking for weaknesses. He didn’t see any. Perhaps it was unlocked though. Taking a chance, the burly man grasped the handle and pulled.

Nothing happened.

Cursing, he yanked harder at the door, even though he knew it wouldn’t make a difference. The door still didn’t open.

Then, as if a candle had been abruptly blown out, things went truly dark and eerily silent. It was so dark Marcus couldn’t see his hand or his companions. It was so silent that he couldn’t hear himself breathing, though, blessedly, he could feel it.

So that’s what he concentrated on, feeling his breath, feeling where his body was.

He reached out with his free hand, knowing – hoping that his man was there. He was relieved to feel the firmness of a body, a strong slim forearm. Not Perdicus, but Oriena. When he found her hand, she clutched his reflexively, but released him in favor of the hold she had on the Queen. She did, however, move closer to him, until he felt the Amazon press against his back.

Then he felt a strong, familiar touch and, with it, a rush of relief. Perdicus.

They huddled close together, taking comfort in each other’s presence against the sudden bleak night. The air around them began to cool, almost as quickly and thoroughly as it had grown hot before.

There was a snap of light, blue and quick and then another and another. It seemed to happen all around them, fast and harsh against their eyes. There was a hum, like the sound of summer insects, which started softly at first and then grew. It pressed on them, a tangible weight, so heavy it Marcus thought it would crush the breath from them.

Then, as Marcus was raising his arm to shield his eyes he saw her and saw her again. It was Izacon. She moved with every flash of light. First here, then there - in the alley, on the main road, and who knew where else. She moved faster than a hummingbird, faster than anything he had ever seen, until it was as if she were everywhere at once.

His mind formed a picture of her, though how, he could not say. His skin prickled with awesome dread. Izacon looked taller than he remembered and more frightening than the flight of the pillars had been. Her skin was pale, almost ghostly white and her hair, whiter than her skin, was spread out and waving as if she were walking in Poseidon’s realm, rather than this desert. Her eyes were devoid of any glow at all.

Marcus' mouth was dry with panic, but he tried to call out to the Tartaran anyway, because he knew must. Contact, as much as he feared it, had to be made. This was, after all, Izacon. He knew her. He just didn't know if she knew him anymore.

His voice, however, was not there to make the call. Marcus screwed up his courage. Maybe, if he moved quickly enough, he could catch her, and get her attention somehow. He knew there was no way he was fast enough, but if he could put himself in her way at all…

He didn’t let himself have a second thought.

He pushed away from his tribemates, jumped towards the image, the flicker of Izacon, and made a grab.

The big man missed. She had been there and, with the disorienting affect of the wavering light, gone. Stumbling, he hit the ground with a solid smack and slide that guaranteed his skin was going to be scraped and bleeding.

Zeus’ Balls! Wincing from the pain, Marcus pushed himself off the ground and forced his body up the wall until he was standing. He braced himself to try again and, this time, realizing his mistake, He leapt without trying to guess where she might be.

He missed again and again, and he felt as if he were swimming through sound and light itself. He kept trying though, over and over, until he could hardly stand. And finally, at the last moment, when his breath finally failed him, and his legs couldn't bear him, he stumbled.

And barely collided with the fearsome light that was Izacon.

Marcus wailed at the pain, helpless against the strike of power than ran through him from the contact. And she felt hit. He knew she did from the way her own mouth was opened in thrall to this horrible pain. He saw it and he realized he had always been seeing her screaming her pain. Only now he was feeling it too.

They were ripped apart, separated by a force stronger than he had ever encountered. Marcus felt himself flying though the air as if he had been placed into one of a warlord's catapults and flung. He saw Izacon being thrown the other way, far and farther than he could even see.

A second explosive sound crackled through the city and complete dark fell again.

Marcus landed with a palpable and somewhat squishy thud upon the empty, crumbled street and lay there in solemn relief. Yes there was pain, but nothing like he had just felt. His body was broken, but his voice was freed. He whispered his companion grief, spare and compassionate. "Oh, Izacon." Then he closed his eyes and died.

Then, as if the sun were rising for the first time, there was light, warm and serene and the sparkling domed spires rose into a sky that didn't rage anymore.


	59. Chapter 59

Marcus awoke to a whole new day and place.

He was in a room brightened by the light from a single large window. The walls were white, but decorated with colorful images. His bed was wide and comfortable. He was alone.

Not for long though. The man he had come to think of as his mate stepped through a large wooden door and smiled at him. "She said you'd be awake now."

Marcus sat up automatically and then was surprised he could move at all. He looked at the parts of his body that were visible. There was nothing broken. Amazing. Then he looked at his lover. "She?"

Perdicus tilted his head, directing the dark man's attention past the door. "Izacon."

"Is she still with us then?"

There was a long pause and then a hesitant, "She is." Perdicus sat carefully upon the bed besides his lover and took the hand of the man he loved. "But…she is much changed." He did not elaborate and Marcus chose not to inquire. He would find out soon enough.

"And Melosa?"

"She is well." Another pause lingered long enough to cause Marcus worry. "The healers helped her. Her eyes, however, carry a shadow that wasn't there before."

The older man nodded. That much he expected. "Penho? Salmoneus?"

"I don't know. No one has seen them." Perdicus looked pensively at the window and then at his lover. "Izacon thinks they were so damaged that they were sent down the line."

"Down the line?"

"Back to Hades."

"Oh."

"Will we see them again?"

"I have no idea."

The younger man caressed his lover's hand. "I'm glad you didn't have to go back. This was your second…I don't know if..."

"Me too." Marcus smiled gently. "I know."

Perdicus bit his lower lip and his grip tightened. He spoke hastily. "If it comes to that. If your tokens run out…I'll come right after. I won't be left behind."

Marcus' heart seemed to expand into warmth. He pulled Perdicus close and they held each other tightly. "Then I'll be waiting," he comforted. "We travel this road together." It was a promise he would be glad to keep.


	60. Chapter 60

The site banner with a tiny pic of me and the words - bearblues bluehaven -  
THE TOUR  
©February 2002  
By Katrina  
Pt 62  
Level 4  
The Elysian roused in sudden alarm from the unconsciousness that accompanied the weariness of waking from the dead. A new sensation, like a growing wave of apprehension, spread through her body. It started off softly, like a brush of awareness against her heart. Now a terrible knowing that something was very wrong captured her attention.

Gabrielle, her soul warned, was in pain.

How she knew this, Xena could not have said. She just did.

And she, being a woman who trusted her self, knew that she must somehow find her way back.

Xena conducted a quick evaluation of her circumstances. She had no idea how far they'd come, but knew that a giant from any world could cover long distances rather quickly and she had no way of knowing how long she had been unconscious. However, whoever was carrying her would eventually have to set down the bag that contained her.

That might be a possible opportunity for escape. But, something was endangering Gabrielle and that knowledge flowed through the warrior's awareness. She felt a compulsion to get to her mate.

Xena flexed parts of her body, testing her responses. Everything felt good. If she were honest, she could almost say she even felt better than good, except for the gnawing dread that filled her. She did a quick evaluation of her armor and noticed that while she didn't have her sword with her, she had her chakram. Across her face a grim smile flashed, then disappeared.

It looked like she wouldn't even have to wait that long. With a quick, simple wrist movement, she freed her chakram from its holster and then attempted to slice her way through. Whatever she was being carried in, however, while porous enough to let her breath, was thick. She resorted to sawing.

Eventually, after more effort than she had intended, the warrior managed to cut a slice large enough to spread and poke her head out. The first thing she noticed was the viciously bitter cold. The second thing she noticed was the blinding shower of huge clumps of snow. Whoever had taken her was traveling through an obvious blizzard. The warrior could barely see, though she did think that she perceived, if she squinted hard enough, mountains in the distance and trees fairly close by.

Xena weighed her options.

First she knew, from her reading, that she was no longer on the third level of Tartarus, which was a hot, mostly desert place. She was now on the white world of the fourth. She had no idea how to get back to third level, but knew there had to be a way. And even if there wasn't a way, well the Amazon chief had given her a few secrets to work with.

Second, she wasn't dressed for this kind of weather, but she was confident in her skills. She did know that she didn't want to chance the giant taking her all the way to yet another level. Fourth was far enough for her.

Her lips pressed together in determination, Xena began sawing and pulling again.

Several minutes later, she plummeted into snow that was near waist deep. Wrapped around her shoulders was a hunk of the bag that had once contained her. She held the edges close to protect herself from the wind, and ignoring the cold, Xena slogged through the chill white stuff and raced for the trees that now seemed more obvious. If she could get there before the giant realized she was gone, she would be safe. It really depended upon the intelligence of the beast.

She was right at the edge of the forest when she heard a wailing roar of frustration. Xena grinned and pressed on. Now it was just a matter of eluding and surviving. She disappeared into the growth.

She heard more than saw the giant bending the trees. It was far enough that the sound of boughs breaking was almost subtle. Apparently the giant hadn't guessed where it had lost her. For some reason, this amused the warrior.

The wind and torrent of snow had been cut tremendously once she was within the green, but was still falling in a steady stream. Her body heat was melting the stuff off of her, but the warrior's trail would soon disappear. The air was still chill, and she knew she would have to do something quickly or else lose her life to the cold, and, if the giant remained persistent, her pursuer. Her mind raced, and then she struck upon her plan.

Using her chakram, Xena carefully selected several branches from the trees that surrounded her. The cuts, she hoped, would not be obvious to the giant while viewing from the top. Then she gathered those branches and, taking advantage of her trail, began to build a shelter.

When Xena heard the crack of the trees above, she held completely still within the small refuge. She didn't even breathe, though she couldn't control her shivers. Her skin was cold and wet. She intended to build a fire as soon as she could, but she wasn't sure that the giant couldn't see heat so she hadn't built one.

The giant continued on and she finally took in a breath.

As soon as she did, however, she lost it to the scream that forced its way through her body. A shock ran through her, pure heat, like the fire she'd been craving moments before. It was infinitely painful and Xena had no choice, but to surrender gratefully to the darkness that took her.


	61. Chapter 61

Four of their tribemates remained missing. Melosa was the one who noticed that Hope had disappeared also. Whether she was caught up in the running of the Tartarans at Light City, sent back to the line because of Izacon's transformation, or seeking out her father none of the tribe knew. Hope was just gone.

When she heard the news Izacon turned those white eyes towards Melosa and simply said, "She will be found."

She didn't say by whom. The Amazon Queen, still leader of the tribe had accepted that answer for what it was - all that she was going to get at the moment.

Melosa responded with, "We'll find Xena first." It was not in question, at least to herself. They needed the Warrior. If they could find her.

Izacon had looked up at the sky with those eyes filled with clouds and appeared to sniff the wind. Her skin had returned to its blazing crimson, but now there were new marks, dark and light, which moved upon her shoulders. The light marks glowed red, yellow, and white like fire. The dark . . . well it was better not to look closely. It reminded Melosa too much of what she had seen before.

Izacon's horns had grown taller, more curved and dangerous. They were pearled, practically glittering with power. The same power wove into Izacon's voice, making it smoky and dangerous to the ear.

"Yes." She had said, her expression grim and determined. Her voice held no doubt. "We will." Then her expression softened and became vulnerable. Izacon turned her gaze to the Queen. "If you wish it."

That moment of submission had nearly taken Melosa's breath away. She dared to touch the Tartaran. Her hand wrapped gently around Izacon's forearm. And, as she did so, the Queen realized that she was the first to touch the woman after the destruction. There was a silence between them for a time, as they both absorbed the moment, and then the Queen spoke. "I do."

That was all that needed to be said between them.

And now they traveled.

They joined a Caravan of Merchants somewhere between third and fourth level. It was safer to be in their company, since the Union of Merchants were always heavily armed and Izacon was friendly with the Captain. It was actually somewhat enjoyable for the tribe.

The Tartaran had told them that they'd notice the change in levels gradually and it was true. The temperature started off hot and then got hotter. Then days into their travels the temperature began to taper until it was Elysian in quality.

Then as more days and more travel passed, the temperature began to drop and drop. Snow began to fall continuously, sometimes gently and sometimes fiercely. This was when the tribe began to appreciate the Caravan more. The Merchants pulled out the warm furs and shared the wagons and fires at night.

The tribe and Merchants shared knowledge and skills to pass the time by the fires. Oriena taught one of the other travelers a fletching she was particularly fond of and the Tartaran taught her how to decoratively carve bone. Melosa listened raptly to the campfire stories and shared her own. Marcus and Perdicus traded on their own skills for some survival techniques. Izacon mostly kept to herself and anyone who looked her in the eyes let her be.

Tok grew her own protection, with plated shields for her face and fur-like protrusions for her body. She looked like she was wearing a fur coat and helmet with horns. Only, the fur coat would cut if petted the wrong way. Melosa made sure, when approaching the daggite, to only caress the face-plates - with Izacon's permission, of course.

Tok appreciated the care. She felt almost as urgent as Izacon about finding Xena. She wanted her mistress happy again and she missed the Mate very much. Xena had been more fun than Tok had realized.

At night the daggite would curl close to Izacon, both for warmth and reassurance. The Tartaran would sometimes ignore her completely, but sometimes she would break from the sorrow that held her and would hold the daggite close, or pet her. Those were good nights.

During the day strigers led the caravan, following the now unseen road with a sure and appreciable surefootedness. The strigers, the colder it got, also began exuding heat. This was especially apparent when the snow became waist deep and the wind bitter cold. Observing this, and though the Merchants had ways of walking over the snow with netted and elongated shoes, the funny looking and warm furry mounts were suddenly much more valuable to the tribe. They made sure to take good care of them at the rest stops.

As far as food was concerned, there was meat to eat and foodstuff to forage. There were no cannibals among the Caravan. Dumb bunnies thrived on the fourth level. There had been none at all on the third level and the numbers were far fewer than that on the first level where there were no natural predators. Here there were predators a-plenty.

Melosa began to wonder if Hades knew Tartarus as well as he thought he did. It was a sacrilegious thought, but not a vain one. She added this other question to her growing list.

There were encounters with wolves and bears and big cats and other, less recognizable beasties along the way. The battles were always challenging, fraught with danger, yet somehow all managed to survive. Except for Perdicus, who was killed when he tried to take on a boar the size of a hut by himself. He still hadn't quite recovered from that one.

By the time they reached the fortified castle/town of Zardentia that the Caravan of Merchants was heading for, Izzy's People, which is what the merchant's started calling them, had accumulated new skills and many things to trade.


	62. And that's where it stopped

A/N: Looking back on it, I probably should have ended the story at chapter 38. Things were on the upswing, Xena had found her Gabrielle and it was going to get better. But temptation is a thing in Tartarus, I guess, and I kept writing until the muse went fizzle. Well, that's not exactly the whole story. No, the reason I stopped was that about that time, the TV show went to Tartarus, literally, and had Xena and Gabrielle doing Tartaran things and I had a moment of, Okay... Okay... I guess I was picking up the vibe or something. Or they picked up mine. Either way, I set this story aside and then I had no desire to go back once the Finale of the series happened. 

I was very upset by that Finale, just so we all know. Very, very, very upset.

Also, I notice now that I used ellipses like they were candy at a parade, just throwing them everywhere. Wow.

That said, the quick update of December 4th, 2019 happened because I realized if I skipped editing and reading, I'd probably upload this faster and I just wanted to get that done. I think I've got all the xenafic up now. I think. I'll have to look at the body of work later, but this should be it. So my worry about my site doing that thing again where it disappears is now alleviated. 

I can think about other things now, like bringing over Lady and her Dragons and possibly another trek-fic. I don't know where I left off there.

Anyhow, hope everyone enjoys the story as it is. This is where I'm leaving it. Sorry for those who need real conclusions. Just think of it this way, as far as I'm concerned: 

Gabrielle Rules with Xena by her side and they absolutely live happily ever after.


End file.
